DC Trouble
by midnightread
Summary: When a marine from the SGC dies in DC what possible trouble could SG1 and the NCIS team get into?
1. Chapter 1

**So this has been sitting on my laptop for ages because I haven't been able to think of a title. Now that I've got one though I'm going to start posting although if anyone has any better ideas I'd like to hear them.**

"Marine by the name of Colonel Albert Reynolds," Ducky told Gibbs as he came through the door.

Gibbs nodded then asked, "Why did you call me down here Duck? He's not one of mine."

Ducky nodded, "No, he's no one's responsibility. He came in this morning, an apparent heart attack. Reminds me of when…"

"But," Gibbs pushed Ducky.

"But, it looks like he suffered from a major electric shock but there are no contact wounds that would show from such a massive charge." Gibbs just stood there and Ducky continued, "He was murdered Jethro, don't know how quiet yet but it definitely wasn't a heart attack."

Gibbs nodded, "Do you know where he was posted?"

Ducky looked quickly at the file in front of him before answering, "Colorado Springs, Cheyenne Mountain."

Gibbs nodded, "I'm going to see if I can get some answers from his commanding officer about what he is doing in DC and if he had any enemies."

Ducky nodded and Gibbs made his way back up to the bull pen, although he decided that he wanted a coffee first so he left the building and went across to the coffee cart.

**Meanwhile, in the bull pen**

The lift dinged but Gibbs' team ignored it, continuing with the paper work that was on their desks from closing the last case. They did however look up when someone walked past them and made their way to Gibbs' desk. The first thing Tony noticed was that she was a hot blonde and that she was wearing an Air Force uniform. "Can I help you?" he questioned her.

She smiled at him, "Do you know where I can find Agent Gibbs?"

Tony looked at Ziva and then McGee. Ziva answered her, "He went down to autopsy. He should be back soon. You're welcome to wait."

She nodded and smiled before taking the seat behind Gibbs desk and pulled what looked like a palm top out of her jacket pocket and started tapping away at it. "Um you might not want to sit at the bosses' desk ma'am," McGee said.

The woman looked up and smiled at him, "Oh I'm sure I'll be fine."

McGee didn't look convinced but he let it go. Tony and Ziva shared a glance but then shrugged and went back to their paper work.

For the next ten minutes or so the three agents worked on their reports while the Air Force officer tapped away at the machine in her hand. Every so often Tony, Ziva or McGee would glance at her and she would give them a quick smile before turning her attention back to whatever it was she was doing.

The lift dinged, but like before everyone ignored it. Then Gibbs' walked into the bull pen and stopped in front of his desk. The woman there looked up and gave him a smile. The three team members watched; waiting to see what would happen. They were shocked when Gibbs smiled back, "Long time no see Sam."

The woman, Sam, stood and Gibbs gave her a brief hug before asking, "Not that I'm not happy to see you again Sam but why are you here?"

Sam looked down at her feet and then caught sight of Gibbs coffee cup. Gibbs followed her gaze and handed her the cup. She smiled and took a gulp before handing it back, "Thanks, I need the caffeine." Gibbs nodded and Sam started to speak, "You have a Colonel Reynolds in your morgue."

It wasn't a question; it was a statement of fact. Gibbs nodded, "You knew him."

Sam nodded, "Yes, I work, worked, with him. When he didn't check in with us last night my CO General Landry made a call and we found out he was dead and in your morgue, suspected heart attack. He knew our history so he sent me and my team down here to help with the investigation."

Again Gibbs nodded, "You know it wasn't a heart attack don't you?"

Sam nodded sadly, "He was in trouble, he and his team were doing some recon and he disappeared. They called in, he didn't."

Gibbs nodded and gave Sam a hard look. "I know you; you know what killed him don't you." Sam couldn't look him in the eye and he took it for a yes. Seeing that he wouldn't get any more answers out of her, she was nearly as stubborn as he was, he said, "You said your team was sent. Where are they?"

Sam gave him a beautiful smile and said, "Around somewhere. I can call them and they'll be here as soon as they can but we thought it might be easier to come in parts, me first and then the others, just to make sure that it was you who had the case."

Gibbs nodded and Sam pulled out her phone and pushed a few buttons before putting it to her ear, "Cam, yeah he's here. Come to the navy yard tell them you're here to see Special Agent Gibbs and then come on up, mentioning my name should get you up here without an escort. Bring the others too, might as well get this over with all in one go." She listened to the man on the other end of the phone for a few seconds and then said, "Ok, see you in five." She hung up and looked at Gibbs, "They'll be here in five minutes and then we can start on this."

Gibbs nodded then looked at his team, "Look into Colonel Albert Reynolds. He's our new case. He was sent to us for an autopsy, it looked like he died of a heart attack, but Ducky discovered that he was killed by a massive electric charge but he doesn't know how it happened, there are no contact marks on his body."

The three nodded and turned to their desks but Sam noticed that they kept glancing at her and laughed lightly, "Tell them who I am Leo, the suspense is killing them."

Gibbs gave her a mock glare and then looked at his team. Tony mouthed the word Leo to Ziva and smiled. Gibbs proceeded to smack the back of his head.

"Sorry boss," Tony said.

Gibbs turned his attention back to the smiling Sam and shrugged before saying. "Ok so this is Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. Sam these are Special Agents Timothy McGee, Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David."

Sam smiled at all of them and waved, "Nice to meet you all." She looked over at McGee and said, "Don't look too hard into Reynolds's record for the last eleven years."

"Why?" McGee questioned.

"Because it's classified well above your pay grade and is a very closely guarded project and if you try your computer will get fried and you'll be arrested for espionage."

McGee gulped, "Ok then, not looking to deeply into his military past."

Sam looked at Gibbs and shrugged, "What, just making sure you don't lose a member of your team."

Gibbs shook his head and said, "Can you tell me anything in the time remaining before your team gets here?"

Sam shook her head and Gibbs took his seat behind his desk and Sam perched on the edge and pulled out her little machine again. Gibbs watched for a moment before he started thinking about the first time they had met. It had been a few years ago, when she had still been a major under the command of Colonel O'Neill. It had been a chance meeting; the two of them had been in DC for a meeting at the Pentagon and were in his favourite diner eating pie and killing time before their flight home. The Colonel had recognised Gibbs, from when they had served together in the Gulf; Jack had been attached to his marine unit for a short time. They had struck up a conversation and Sam had taken an immediate liking to the man, something about him made her feel safe. They still exchanged phone calls and whenever Sam was in DC she would make a point to try and come and see him, he had also seen Jack a few times since his reassignment to DC although not much since he was a very busy man, they both were.

The lift dinged and Sam hopped off the desk, moving towards the group. Gibbs followed her path but didn't stand. The rest of the team also looked up as Sam walked past them and greeted the group before leading the way back over to them. They all stopped walking and stood by Gibbs' desk. Sam then proceeded to introduce everyone. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchel," Cam gave them all a wave, "Doctor Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran and Teal'c." As she introduced them Daniel and Teal'c both inclined their heads while Vala waved wildly. Sam shook her head and then said, "Guys, meet Special Agents Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Timothy McGee, Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David."

Each team looked each other up and down, sizing each other up. Sam and Cam both looked very impressive in their uniforms and Daniel looked completely at ease around them but he also looked a little nervous whenever Vala moved. Vala gave a very distinct impression, she had a look about her that none of the NCIS team knew what to make of. Teal'c cut a very imposing figure although he was just stood there unmoving and unspeaking.

In the eyes of SG1 the NCIS team were an interesting mix. They had all become experts at reading people and could see that McGee was a bit of a nerd who had a bit of a hard time from Tony but they mostly got on. Tony they could see was going to try hitting on both Vala and probably Sam at some point or another; they could see it in his eyes as he watched the two of them although Vala more so than Sam. Ziva was an easy read, or at least part of her was, she was obviously a fighter and cared about this team but other than that they weren't sure. Gibbs was almost a complete blank, all they could read was that he cared deeply about the people around him and would protect them fiercely. He reminded them all a little of Jack in that respect.

Once everyone was introduced Daniel handed Sam a file as well as a few lose pieces of paper. Sam looked at them and then gave him a questioning look, "Really?"

Daniel nodded, "Landry and the President agree that they can handle it, or at least as much as we need to tell them for this case to make sense, and they all know how to keep a secret."


	2. Chapter 2

Sam looked back at Gibbs and asked, "Is there somewhere we can speak privately, all of us?"

Gibbs nodded and stood, "We can take this into the conference room if you'd prefer."

Sam nodded, "Good idea. Some of what we're going to tell you is so far above classified it's incredible."

Gibbs nodded and made to led the way to the conference room but stopped when he heard Teal'c say, "ValaMalDoran, replace what you took."

Vala pouted but began pulling various objects out of her clothing and placing them back on the desks around her. When she finished she put her hands back in her pockets and Sam glared at her, "I warned you Vala, do that again and I'm sending you home." She looked at the agents and apologised to them, "Sorry, she had a difficult past and she likes shiny things. We're trying to break her out of it but so far we're only have limited success." They had decided as a team on the way over that even though Cam was technically their leader, Sam was going to be in charge because she knew DC, and Gibbs, the best.

She started walking and Gibbs quickly over took her and led the way, everyone else followed and they heard Cam say, "Keep an eye on your girlfriend Daniel, she's going to get into trouble."

Daniel glared at him, "She's not my girlfriend Mitchel and you try keeping her out of trouble, she's like a little kid in a candy store."

His words were quickly proved as Vala jumped on Teal'c's back. He stopped walking and turned his head slightly, "Off please ValaMalDoran."

Sam looked back and sighed, "Last warning Vala." Normally she had no problem with the quirky alien but they were in the middle of the navy base in DC and Sam really couldn't be dealing with that as well as the death of one of their own, especially since he had been on Earth when it had happened.

Vala pouted and jumped of Teal'c's back and walked over to Daniel and linked arms with him.

Daniel and Sam shared a look then they all walked in silence towards the conference room. Once they were all inside and the door was shut Sam gestured from them all to take a seat. As soon as everyone was seated Sam handed out the seats of paper Daniel had given her saying, "These pieces of paper state that what we are about to tell you is classified and that anything you hear here won't be repeated outside this room. It is up to you if you want to sign or not but if you don't then you have to leave now."

The NCIS team all looked at Gibbs, who shrugged, before they all signed the papers and handed them back to Sam.

She took them and folded them in half before handing them to Daniel who put them in the inside pocket of his jacket. Sam opened her mouth to begin but there was a knock at the door before she could say a word. Gibbs wordlessly opened it and everyone in the room looked shocked as a Lieutenant General walked into the room.

Cam jumped to his feet and saluted sharply while Sam rose slower and stood with her hands by her sides. The General saluted Cam and then looked at Carter and raised his eyebrow, "Since when don't you salute a superior officer when he walks into the room?"

Sam was silent for a few seconds and the NCIS team all watched, wondering what was about to happen, they knew the military protocol. "Since said superior officer threatened to kick my ass from one side of the galaxy to the other if I saluted him every time he walked into the room sir."

Jack laughed, "And a hello to you too Carter." He looked around the room, "Gunny."

He and Gibbs shook hands, while Ziva, Tony and McGee all shared confused looks, before Jack stepped over to his old team. Teal'c grasped his arm for a moment before letting him go and then Daniel quickly moved forward and gave the General a quick hug.

Jack looked around the room and Sam introduced the agents, "Special Agents Tony DiNozzo, Ziva David and Timothy McGee met Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill."

Jack shook hands with all of them and then Daniel asked, "What are you doing here Jack?"

He shrugged, "I knew him too and he saved my life more than once. Plus," he added, "How else were you expecting to get these?"

He placed the brief case he was carrying on the table and clicked it open. Inside everyone could see the six guns, complete with holsters, as well as something that none of the NCIS agents recognised. He quickly handed one to Teal'c, Daniel and Vala and everyone watched as they expertly checked the guns over before attaching the holsters to their belts. He then handed one the Cam and made to hand one to Sam but she shook her head, "A gun doesn't really go so well with female dress blues sir, there's nowhere to put it."

Jack nodded and went to the door and quickly opened it again. Sam craned her neck slightly and then smiled when she saw what he was picking up off the floor. He came back in and threw one of the bags to Sam before passing another one to Cam and keeping the third for himself. Cam frowned at the bag then looked at Jack, "How did you get my bag? I locked it in the car."

Jack smirked, "I knew that you would want to help and I know that dress blues are a pain for anything practical so I picked the lock on the car and got your bags."

Cam shook his head while Sam smiled at Jack. "Good to see that you're still in practice sir."

"Are you laughing at me Carter?" Jack asked.

She shook her head, "Never sir, but after I gave you a refresher you I didn't realise you'd kept up after you moved to DC."

Cam looked at Sam shocked, "Since when can you pick locks?"

"Since I was about seventeen Cam, how else do you think I managed to sneak out when my father was at home? He was an Air Force officer after all."

Cam just shook his head while Jack laughed lightly at the look on the SG1's team leader's face.

Sam looked at the NCIS team and shrugged before looking back at Jack and asking, "The other gun and the other bag sir?"

"That would be for me Carter; I'm not going anywhere until we find out what happened to our guy."

Sam nodded once and then gestured for everyone retake their seats. Once everyone was back sitting, Jack beside Sam at the head, Sam began. "Ok so Reynolds works with us in Colorado Springs for the past ten years and was the leaders of one of the marine teams stationed there. They were sent to DC to investigate some reports we were getting and they were the second best team for the job."

"Second?" Ziva cut in.

Sam nodded, "We were the first choice but we were unavailable so Reynolds and his team were sent in our place." Ziva nodded and Sam continued, "They arrived in DC at the beginning of the week and kept in daily contact with Cheyenne Mountain until yesterday when Reynolds second reported that they had lost Reynolds and that he was completely off the grid, which is pretty impressive when you know what technology we have available." She stopped talking for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Then we found him again this morning, in your morgue."

Gibbs then said, "Ducky called me down earlier and said that while it looked like he had suffered from a heart attack but he said cause of death was in fact a massive electric charge, I suppose now you can tell us what caused it?"

Sam nodded and Jack handed her the thing that none of the agents recognised. "He was shot with one of these it's called a zat'nik'tel."

"Or," Jack interrupted, "Zat for short."

Sam nodded, "Or zat for short yes. It uses an electric charge and one shot stuns and the second shot kills."

"Let me guess, the third shot disintegrates," Tony muttered flippantly. He saw the looks on the faces around him and then said, "No way, really?"

Sam nodded once and Tony smiled, "This is so cool."

Gibbs slapped him across the back of the head and Jack couldn't help but laugh. Sam looked at him and said in a voice full of nothing but respect, which was quite an achievement in the eyes of Ziva, Tony and McGee given what she was saying, "Ever try that on me sir and I'll shoot you ok."

Jack smirked at her, "And why would I have to do that Carter? If it was anyone it would be Daniel, he's the one who normally needs to be told to zip it."

"Anyway," Sam continued, shaking her head slightly, "Reynolds was shot and killed by this weapon and since only a few people have access to the weapons we need to know who has it and why they killed Reynolds."

She finished speaking and looked around the room at the disbelieving faces. Jack leant over and said quietly, "I don't think they believe you Carter," the he said louder, "How about a demonstration?"


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as he finished speaking Vala, Cam and Daniel all shouted, "Not it," while Teal'c picked up the zat, daring anyone to disagree with him.

Sam shook her head, "No way sir, not a chance."

"Well I'm not doing it Carter," Jack replied.

"We called not it," Vala said, "So we're not doing it either."

"Rock, paper scissors?" Jack said to Sam as the NCIS team watched on, "Only fair since they managed to get out of it the same way I used to."

Sam nodded reluctantly and the two of them put their fists up and bounced them three times. Sam picked scissors while Jack picked rock. He punched the air happily while Sam sighed and stood before taking a step back from the table. She looked at Teal'c and said, "Count of three Teal'c."

The Jaffa nodded and everyone watched as Sam counted to three and Teal'c shot her. The blue energy arched across the room, hitting Sam and she dropped to the floor. Even though they had known it was coming, the NICS team all jumped to their feet as Jack knelt beside her and shook her gently. She bit his hand and he jumped back, "Damn it Carter, every time."

She sat up and shook her head, "Sorry sir, but normally getting zatted doesn't happen in a safe place now does it?"

Jack gave him her hand and pulled her to her feet. She glared at Cam, Vala and Daniel, "Next time you say not it I'll kick the lot of you from here to Abydos and back, got it."

The three of them all nodded and Sam straightened her uniform before retaking her seat. Jack was still cradling his hand and Daniel shook his head, "Seriously Jack, you try and walk on a leg shot to hell but as soon as Sam bites you you turn into a right child."

"Anyway," Sam said, getting ahead of the childish argument she knew was coming, "That's the murder weapon." She then looked at Teal'c and said, "Shoot that plant three times, show them what happens."

Teal'c inclined his head and shot the plant as directed and it vanished.

While everyone was sat in shock Sam asked everyone in general, "Where was he found?"

After shaking his head once Gibbs looked at the folder in front of him and said, "He was found lying in an alley behind a bar not far from here. The paramedics who were called said it looked like he had had a heart attack and collapsed against the dumpsters."

Sam nodded, "What was the bar called?"

Gibbs looked at the file again and said, "The Golden One."

Sam nodded, "All you need to know about his service record is that he didn't have any enemies." Jack snorted and Sam glared at him. "That could have hurt him here," she finished, still glaring at Jack.

Tony and Ziva shared a look, obviously wondering what Jack was finding so damn amusing.

Gibbs then took charge, "DiNozzo, look into what he's been doing the last couple of days. Ziva, go and see Abby, see if she's got anything off the clothes. McGee, retrace his steps and see if you can work out where he was after he went missing from his team."

The three nodded and stood. Jack looked at Cam and the others and said, "Daniel, Vala go with Agent David." He concentrated on Vala and said, "Behave." Vala gave him a mock salute and stood. Daniel gave Jack a look as if asking why. Jack ignored him and looked at Cam, "You go with Agent DiNozzo and see if you can help him, use the report from SG3, and all the transcripts from the calls they made, none of the blacked out bits are necessary to what you're doing. It should all be in here," Jack finished as he handed Cam a file from his briefcase Cam saluted and stood, grabbing his bag.

Everyone who had been assigned a job left, leaving Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Gibbs in the room. Gibbs looked between them and asked, "I'm not normally one to pry but what the hell are you guys into that means you get weapons like that?" He nodded towards the zat that Teal'c had left on the table.

Jack picked it up and put it back into the brief case. "Sorry gunny, it's classified," he said, snapping the case shut.

Gibbs shook his head but stood and said, "I'm going to go and see our ME, see if he's got anything more to tell us."

Jack nodded, "I'll come with you." Teal'c inclined his head, indicated he was going to accompany them as well.

They all looked at Sam who said, "I'll go and see if I can help Agent McGee with what he's doing, if that's ok with you sir."

Jack nodded, "Go ahead Carter."

Sam smiled at them all before grabbing her bag and leaving the room, heading back towards the bull pen. Jack looked between Gibbs and Teal'c and then the Jaffa grabbed Jack's bag for him as Jack picked up his briefcase and the three of them headed towards the lift.

Half an hour later the two groups who had gone to the morgue and Abby's lab all came back into the bull pen. Sam an McGee were sat side by side going over things on the computer while Cam was sat opposite Tony and the two of them were retracing Reynolds steps from when he and his team had first landed in DC until Reynolds' second had reported that he was MIA using the folder that Jack had given Cam.

"What have we got?" Gibbs said as he Jack and Teal'c came in one side of the desks and Ziva, Daniel and Vala the other.

Tony jumped to his feet and click at the remote, putting up a map on the plasma. "From the notes that Colonel Mitchell had we figured out where the Colonel had been with his team before he disappeared. They seemed to be staying mainly in these areas." He clicked again and squares appeared on the map. As Tony pointed at each one he said where they were, "The hotel where they were staying is the most visited which is expected, but the next highest area they visited was this empty warehouse area although they were only interested in one of the units, but I have no idea what they were doing there since that part of the report was blacked out. There was also two housing estates and a marina, but the information about what they were doing there is also blocked out."

Sam stood staring at the board for a moment and Tony asked, "What are you seeing Colonel?"

Sam didn't answer, just continued looking at the board, obviously concentrating. Tony reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "Agent DiNozzo," Cam started. He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence because the next thing anyone knew Tony was lying on the floor with Sam twisting his arm up his back. "I wouldn't do that," Cam finished lamely.

"Sorry," Sam said, jumping up and away from Tony, while Ziva and everyone else looked on either laughing or amused.

Sam offered Tony a hand and pulled him up off the floor. "I'm sorry Agent DiNozzo, I wasn't paying attention and it's a reaction born from years in the field."

Jack nodded, still smiling, "We learnt that you don't sneak up on Carter, the first and last time I did I got a knife to my throat."

Everyone laughed again and Tony rubbed his shoulder lightly. "What did you see Carter?" Jack questioned.

Sam shrugged, "I thought the pattern that the locations made was familiar but now I'm not so sure."

Jack nodded and then Gibbs as the man asked, "Shall we send out groups to the different areas?"

Jack looked at the four areas that weren't the hotel on the map and nodded, "We send out groups to each area. A mix of your team and Colonel Mitchel's team."

Sam cleared her throat and everyone looked at her. "That's all well and good, but the three of us are going to have to get changed unless you two really want to go investigating in your dress blues."

Jack and Cam both nodded in agreement and Jack said, "Give us five minutes and then we'll get going."

The three of them grabbed their bags, Sam and Cam from where they had dropped them by the desks and Jack got his from Teal'c, who was still holding it for him. Sam and Cam headed off but Jack left his briefcase on Gibbs' desk before he followed them.

Cam and Jack headed into the men's room while Sam went into the ladies. Jack and Cam were the first to come back out and they walked back over to the group. Jack was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt while Cam was wearing jeans and a jacket. Sam soon followed, also wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Tony couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you two going to be cold in just t-shirts?"

The two shared a look before shaking their heads. "Nope," Jack answered with a smile, "We don't fell the cold as much as we probably should."

"Besides," Sam said, "That's only my go bag, the rest is at the hotel and I forgot to pack a jacket."

"So," Jack said, looking at Gibbs, "How do you want to do this?"

"I don't know. You split up your people and then I'll put mine with yours."

Jack nodded and said, "Daniel you stick with Vala, Colonel you go with T, Sam, you alright on your own?"

Sam nodded her agreement and Gibbs said, "Ziva go with Sam. Tony you're with Doctor Jackson and Vala. McGee, you go with Teal'c and Colonel Mitchel."

"Looks like it's just you and me then gunny," Jack said with a smile.

"Just like old times."

"Cam," Sam said, "Do you think you could put this is your car? Just be careful with it, my uniform is on top and I have the same love for ironing the General does."

Cam nodded and took Sam's bag from her. Jack placed his bag on the floor before opening the brief case and handing Sam her gun, "Don't forget this Carter."

She took it from him with a smile, and after giving it a once over she attached the holster to her jeans and slipped the gun into place.

"Ziva Sam, you take the warehouse, Tony and McGee you take the two housing estates the General and I will take the marina. Call if you find anything and if not then meet back here in an hour."

Everyone nodded and headed towards the lift but when Sam saw how full it was she said, "I'll take the stairs."

Jack nodded and the two of them headed towards the stairs while the lift doors shut.

They all meet up in the reception and then headed towards the car park. Cam, Teal'c and McGee all got into Cam's car while Jack and Gibbs got into Gibbs' car and Sam and Ziva got into Ziva's mini. Tony, Daniel and Vala all got into Tony's car and they all went their separate ways.

**I have created a poll on my profile page and I would really appreciate if you took time to answer it truthfully, should only take a few minutes since it's a yes or no question, but it will help me with something I'm working on for school.**


	4. Chapter 4

**So here's the next chapter. Thanks for all the response so far.**

A few hours later they all met back at the Navy Yard, having found nothing at their respective locations.

They were all in the bull pen when Jack asked, "Where are Carter and Agent David? If they found something they would have called and if they hadn't found anything then they would have come back."

Daniel pulled out his phone and pushed two on his speed dial and held his phone to his ear. The more the phone rang the paler and more worried looking he became. "Jack," he said, looking the General in the eye, "It's says her phone is out of service range."

The members of SG1 all shared a look as Jack said, looking at Gibbs, "They're in trouble. We've got to get to that warehouse now."

Gibbs didn't ask, just grabbed his gun and the keys as SG1 all headed towards the lift. "How do you know they're in trouble?" Tony questioned, "It could just be bad cell service."

Jack shook his head, "Carter's phone always has signal, if it doesn't it means it's being blocked and she's in trouble."

The journey down in the lift was silent, SG1 were all looking worried although they hid it well. The NCIS team weren't as nervous because they didn't understand the significance of Sam's phone not having signal. It always had signal because, even after ten years of the programme being in operation, she was still the best person to ask when there were problems with the Stargate and because of that she had tapped her phone into all the military satellites, with permission of course, and could now get signal all over the world.

They quickly exited the building and piled into the cars, not really caring who sat where, just that they were all in.

The drive to the warehouse felt like it took forever in Jack's opinion; he couldn't help but worry about Sam and go over in his head everything and anything that could have happened to her and Ziva.

They pulled up in front of the warehouse, behind Ziva's mini, and Cam and the rest of his team headed to the side entrance while Jack stuck with the NCIS agents and went in through the front.

There was only a dim light inside but it was enough to see by. It was large and empty and the two groups could see each other as soon as they entered. They were in the process of giving the warehouse a quick once over when Daniel shouted from the west wall, "Jack, you might want to get over here."

Everyone quickly made their way over to where Daniel and Vala were standing, looking at the wall. Cam kicked something as he walked. He picked it and felt his chest tighten as he saw what it was, "Um guys," he said, "I found Sam's phone."

Everyone looked at him and then back at Daniel as he said, "And I found why it wasn't being answered."

Everyone looked at the wall and Jack stared at it for a moment before he said in a quiet voice, "Please Daniel, tell me that's not what I think it is."

Daniel looked away from him and he knew his answer. "What is it?" Tony questioned, "Where are Ziva and Colonel Carter?"

"In trouble," Jack answered flatly. He looked between Teal'c, Daniel and Vala, "What does it say?"

Daniel looked at the wall for a moment and then away and then Jack knew just how bad it was. Vala was the one who answered, "It says, I have your dear Samantha and you will never see her again. What I did to you is going to be tame in comparison to what I do to her, over and over again. I am going to make her wish that she never met you O'Neill, and never went up against our power."

The NCIS team were all in shock as Jack stiffened and said in a dead voice, "Ba'al."

Daniel nodded, "Yes."

SG1 and Jack were all silent as everything sunk in while the NCIS team looked at the wall. "Is that written in blood?" Tony asked in a sick sounding voice.

"It's Sam's," Vala said with a nod.

Jack then said, cutting off any chance the NCIS team had to ask how Vala knew it was Sam's blood without any sort of test being performed, "We're going to find them." He looked at Cam and said, "Can I have Carter's phone?"

Cam handed the phone over and Jack quickly looked at it and then turned it so everyone could see the word _trap_ written in an unsent text. "Does the message say anything about Ziva?" Tony questioned, looking to Vala and Daniel for answers.

Vala nodded slowly before pointing to the wall and answering, "This part says, the Colonel's companion will die a quick and painless death, when I need Colonel Carter to see that there is no hope of rescue or escape."

"Who is this Ba'al?" Gibbs asked, "He sounds as if he knows you General."

"He does," Jack said sourly, "We have met a few times over the years and he and I did not get on. We have tried many a time to capture him but the few times we have he's escaped and the times we'd thought we'd killed him he just came back to haunt us." Jack sighed, "He also tortured me to within an inch of my life which is why we are going to find Sam, and we're going to do it soon."

Daniel and Vala both shared a look before Daniel asked, "Where's Sam's laptop? Did she bring it with her?"

"It's in my car," Cam answered, "Why?"

Daniel touched his arm where his tracker had been implanted. Jack saw the gesture and said, "That won't work Daniel, he blocked her cell service so he's going to be able to block that signal."

Daniel shook his head, "Sam was working on a prototype that could break through outside interference, for use in places like the old gamma site where normal signals are blocked."

Jack's eyes brightened slightly, "Did she finish it?"

"I don't know," Daniel answered sadly, "But if she has then she would have tested it on herself before anyone else. You know that as well as I do."

Jack nodded and then looked at Gibbs, "We're going back to the Navy Yard to get Carter's laptop and then we are going to find them."

"What about here?" Tony asked, even as they began to walk towards the exit, "It's a crime scene."

"It would be a useless endeavour Agent DiNozzo. There will be nothing here to link it to Ba'al," Teal'c answered.

They all walked quickly towards the cars and once they were close Jack looked and Vala and said, "Take the mini and Daniel and ring the SGC. We're going to need the healing device and your help when we find Carter and Agent David because if they're not already dead they're going to be damn close."

Vala nodded and she and Daniel quickly went over to the car. "They don't have a key," McGee said, "How are they meant to drive Ziva's car?"

"Remember when Sam said the Vala had a difficult past," Cam said, "She was a thief and a con artist. If anyone can get that car started she can."

They all got back into the cars and were about to drive off when the mini came to life and Daniel got into the driver's seat, Vala moving across to the passenger side. Even after a year on Earth she didn't know how to drive, no one had really liked the thought of her behind the wheel of a car. "Told you," Cam said, trying to keep everyone's spirits up.

The drive back to the Navy Yard was quick, Gibbs, Tony and Cam having broken most of the speed limits. While everyone else headed up to the bull pen Cam quickly went to his car and pulled out Sam laptop case, which had been in the boot as she hadn't wanted to leave it in the hotel and felt that a car with people in or a car parked in the Navy Yard was safer.

Once he had arrived in the bull pen he placed the laptop on a desk and they all waited for it to boot up. Just as the lock screen appeared so did Vala and Daniel. "Did you get it?" Jack asked.

Vala nodded while Daniel said, "Landry informed the President of the situation and while he is annoyed that you didn't call him personally Jack he says use whatever means necessary to get Sam back."

Jack scoffed as they all turned their attention to the laptop. "Did he really expect me to call him right now?" he muttered to himself. The NCIS team all looked a little shocked at his words about the President but didn't say anything as they all just wanted to get Ziva and Sam back.

"We need a password to use it," Tony said.

"I might be able to hack in," McGee said.

Daniel shook his head, "No, any attempts to do that and the hard drive will fry and we won't get anything off it ever again."

"There's always something left," McGee protested.

Daniel shook his head once more, "Not in this case. Sam has rigged her laptop so that there is no way to retrieve anything."

"Try fishing," Cam said, "She told me once that the password to her personal files was fishing so maybe it's the one for this."

McGee tried it but just got told it was incorrect. "How about Minnesota?" Daniel guessed.

Again nothing. Daniel looked at the screen and smiled, "Look, she's left a hint. She always does think one step ahead."

"What does it say?" Gibbs asked from the back of the group.

"Um, it just says _the promise of always_," McGee said.

"Anybody got any ideas?" Tony asked.

Cam, Vala, Daniel and Teal'c all shook their heads and then everybody looked to Jack who had gone still as stone. "I think I know what it is," he said in a quiet voice.

"What?" McGee asked, his fingers poised to type.

Jack shook his head, "If it's what I think it is then I'm going to type it myself."

"Ok," McGee said, moving back to allow him access to the laptop.

Jack typed quickly, preventing anyone from seeing what he was typing by moving his body do that it blocked the keyboard from view. The laptop dinged and Jack took a step back and gestured for Daniel to come forward.

He did and quickly opened the correct programme on the laptop. The screen appeared and Daniel asked, "Does anyone know her service number? I need it for the programme to work."

As people began shaking their heads McGee said, "I can look it up if you want."

"It's 36634," Jack said, pulling out his gun and checking it over to do something with his nervous energy.

Daniel nodded and quickly typed it in. As the programme worked Gibbs asked, "What are we going to do to this Ba'al character when we find him?"

It was Jack who answered, "Plan A we capture him and take him back to Colorado Springs with us."

"And plan B?" Gibbs asked.

The slide on Jack's gun slid forward as he said, "He dies."

The dead voice he said it in shocked the NCIS agents once more but SG1 all knew how he was feeling, they all knew just how much Sam meant to Jack and how much he despised Ba'al.

"Got her," Daniel said, "She did test it on herself."

Everyone stood but then Gibbs stopped them all by saying, "Look Jack, it's not that I don't trust you but what the hell is going on? How is it you can use a computer programme to find Sam?"

Jack looked at him, "We all have transmitters under the skin in our arm so instead of security passes to get in and out of the mountain the transmitters get us through, as long as the DNA is a match. They also double as locator beacon just in case something like this happens."

"Ok," Gibbs said, "What about Ba'al? Who is he really?"

Jack sighed, "He is an evil bastard who has two of our friends; do you really want to go into this now?"

Gibbs was silent then he shook his head.

"Good," Jack said. He looked at Vala, "Are you good to go?"

She nodded and touched the small bag by her side. Jack nodded too and then looked around, "Ba'al is mine; got it, if anyone is going to kill him it's going to be me that does it."

Nobody answered as he made his way towards the lift, everyone quickly following along behind.

**In case you didn't know Ba'al is my favourite Goa'uld, don't know why but he is, which is why he is the one in this story plus Ba'al is the one that Jack probably hates the most.**


	5. Chapter 5

She came too slowly and once her eyes had adjusted to the dim light, and had cleared somewhat, she took stock of her surroundings. She was tied to a chair and there was no give in the ropes as she tried to move. She looked to the side and could see that Ziva was tied up beside her. "Agent David," she hissed. When she got no response she tried again, slightly louder, "Ziva, you ok over there?"

She heard the other woman moan and mutter, "I can't see."

"It'll wear off," Sam whispered back. "It's just an after effect of the device that was used to knock us out."

Ziva groaned again before asking quietly, "How come you can see already? We were affected at the same time."

"It's not the first time that a device like that has been used on me, I guess I just have a quicker recovery time because of that," Sam answered.

"What happened?" Ziva then asked quietly, "All I remember is going into the warehouse and then you yelling at me to get out, that it was a trap, after that I can't remember anything."

"That's all I've got as well," Sam said, leaving out the part about her being able to feel the presence of naquadah in the warehouse which is how she had known it was a trap.

_There was something up, she could feel the presence of naquadah which wasn't right given they were on Earth and Teal'c wasn't around. She looked around the warehouse and frowned. As the feeling got stronger she said in a low voice, "It's a trap. Get out of here." Ziva gave her a confused look and then Sam saw the round grenades of the Jaffa and yelled, "Get out now." Ziva turned to leave but then Sam heard the scream of the grenade and knew that they were in trouble._

"I'm starting to get my sight back," Ziva said, breaking Sam out of her thoughts, and making her realise that she had a deep cut on her arm, although it looked like it had stopped bleeding and was now just surrounded by dried blood.

"Well there's not much to look at," Sam said, "I'd say that we're in another warehouse."

"Correct Colonel Carter," came a voice from the other side of the room, a part that was in complete darkness, "And here is where you will die."

"Ba'al," Sam said, "I'd say it was nice to see you again but we both know I'd be lying."

"Ah," Ba'al said stepping into the light and coming towards them, "As insolent as ever."

"Bite me," Sam muttered. She could see that Ziva didn't have a clue what was going on but she also knew that this wasn't a situation she really wanted to be in.

Ba'al stopped in front of Sam and pulled out a knife. "You see Colonel Carter, I am going to make you wish that you were dead, I'm going to make you regret the day you decided to go up against us."

"Go to hell," Sam said.

Ba'al laughed and dragged the knife down Sam's cheek, breaking the skin and drawing blood. Sam didn't flinch as she felt the cold metal bite into her skin and the warm blood begin to dribble down her face. Ba'al smirked as he played with the knife, making small cuts all over Sam's body, some deeper, some more superficial. "I used a knife much like this on O'Neill," he said in a conversational tone as he cut through her t-shirt and started marking her stomach and chest, but thankfully not cutting through her bra, "And it was a prized possession until I had to give it up, this will make a welcome upgrade."

By now Sam was beginning to feel woozy as blood loose began to take effect. Ba'al stopped and moved over towards Ziva, but not before he wiped the knife clean on Sam's trousers. As he raised the knife and made towards Ziva's face Ziva stared him down and he chuckled, "It seems females are all the same, defiant until the last."

"She's an innocent," Sam spat, "She has nothing to do with me or the programme. I only meet her today; she's investigating Colonel Reynolds death. You leave her out of this you bastard." She wanted to protect Ziva as much as possible in this situation, Ba'al cutting her was one thing but someone who knew nothing about the stargate, or Earth's fight with the Goa'uld, was another thing entirely.

Ba'al laughed again, "You should have come yourself in the first place, that way you friend Reynolds would still be alive."

Sam shook her head to clear the fog. "It was a set up," she finally said, "This whole thing was a set up. The intelligence we got and Reynolds death was all a set up to get SG1 here. Why?"

"Oh no," Ba'al said, coming back, "It wasn't to get your precious team here Samantha, oh no, this was purely for you and you alone, you were the one I wanted from the beginning."

"Why did you want me?" Sam asked confused and her eyes now nearly completely obscured by black.

"Because," Ba'al whispered, leaning in close, "What better way is there to destroy O'Neill than to kill you and leave your mutilated body where he will find it?"

Sam lost conscious at that point and as Ba'al moved away, back towards the corner he had come from, where Ziva guessed there was a door, she wondered what the hell she had gotten in the middle of.

Ba'al left them for a half hour, or that was what Ziva thought anyway, and Ziva used the time to keep Sam awake, she knew that if she slept she may never wake up. While some of the more shallow cuts had stopped bleeding, like the ones on her face and arms, the deeper ones on her stomach, and the two deep ones along her collar bone, were still weeping conspicuously.

When Ba'al did come back in he was carrying a zat. He went to Sam first and said, "You see, I left a message to be found in the warehouse where I took you. I hadn't expected you to get involved in the investigation into the death of Reynolds, I had expected you to work on your own, so that changed my plans slightly but now O'Neill will know that you died blaming him for what is happening to you."

Sam spat at him, catching him in the eye, before she hissed, "I would never blame him and he knows it. We have been though too much together for me to ever do that."

Ba'al laughed, "That may be, but does he truly know that? And will he not blame himself for the death of your friend over there?" He pointed with the zat to Ziva, "Because when she dies it will be your fault Samantha and his fault too, because when she dies it will be to show you that I mean business and that there is no hope of escape."

As he finished speaking he shot Ziva. He didn't take his eyes off Sam as Ziva felt like her skin had been set on fire. When she came to she could hear Sam laughing and thought that the blood loose had finally gotten to her properly and she was losing it.

Then Sam said, "You made one big mistake Ba'al. The General is working this case too and when he finds us he is going to kill you and I am going to sit here and watch as the light leaves your snaky eyes."

Ziva thought she must still be suffering from the effects of the zat because she was sure that as Sam finished speaking Ba'al's eyes glowed gold for a few seconds. "They will not find you. This warehouse is shielded just like the other; no signal will get in or out."

Sam laughed, "Unless of course I have something on me that can circumvent the shielding."

"You possess no such technology," Ba'al hissed.

Sam laughed, "You're going to die Ba'al; as soon as the General gets here you're dead."

He growled and pulled out his knife once more. He advanced on her and reached down and sliced at her arms. Once he found the implant he ripped it from her skin and crushed it under foot. "They will not find you now," he sneered.

Sam spat at him once more, her salvia tinged red with blood.

Ba'al slapped her, making her head snap to the side. "Before you die you will learn respect."

Sam licked at her split lip and then spat the blood on the floor before answering, "And before you die you will see that just because we are weak in your eyes it does not mean that we won't fight for what we believe in. Besides," she said spitting once more, "I only respect people who deserve it, not people who use fear and brutality to get what they want."

He slapped Sam once more before he moved on to Ziva and began making shallow slices all over her arms, but none of them were as deep as the ones that he had inflicted on Sam, and all of which stopped bleeding fairly quickly.

They all heard a crash and Ba'al stopped cutting at Ziva as Sam laughed and said, "I told you they were coming."

He moved hastily towards the door and away from the initial crash. As he walked past Sam however he paused for a brief second. "I was planning on keeping this knife as a memento but," he plunged the knife into Sam's stomach, making her gasp, "I'd rather have the memory of this moment, the moment I killed you."

He carried on walking towards the door as Sam began to shake in her seat. She was aware of a gun shoot and then voices and people around her but all she could see was the encroaching darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

They got to the warehouse and took a few seconds to come up with a plan before they burst through the doors and into an empty space. "Check the floor," Daniel called, "If he staying true to form there should be a trap door somewhere."

They quickly found the trap door and with drawn guns they opened it then made their way down the steep steps. They came into a small room with a door opposite the steps and quickly made their way towards it. Once Gibbs and his team had deemed the next room clear they all walked in just in time to see Ba'al stabbing the knife into Sam's stomach before moving quickly away, without so much as a backwards glance.

Jack reacted faster than anyone else and let off one shoot, getting Ba'al right in the back and causing him to drop to the floor, however he was still moving so they could see that Jack hadn't killed him, at least not yet. Cam, Teal'c and Daniel all moved towards him while Gibbs followed them. The others all headed towards Sam and Ziva. Tony and McGee quickly untied Ziva and checked her over, noticing the bloody cuts on her arms and face but thankfully they couldn't see anything serious.

Sam was another matter. Jack reached her and as Vala began to work on her bonds he felt for a pulse and said, "Come on Carter. Wake up; I need you to wake up." He pressed on her wound lightly, trying to slow the bleeding, but trying to move the knife as little as possible.

Vala finished untying her and said, "She's lost a lot of blood, I don't know if I can do enough to help."

Jack looked at her, "Please Vala." He pushed down a little harder on the wound he was holding, "If you can heal this one then she'll be fine, she has to be fine." He knew he was begging but he didn't care.

Vala nodded and Daniel and Teal'c came over to help. Teal'c carefully moved Sam off the chair so she was lying on her back on the floor. "Her breathing is shallow," Daniel said, "But her pulse is strong."

As everyone gather around, bar Cam who was watching the cuffed Ba'al, Vala pulled out the healing device from the bag over her shoulder. She knelt over Sam, beside Jack who was kneeling and clutching at Sam's hand. "When I say," Vala said, raising her hands over Sam's body, placing one over the other and pointing whatever it was in her hands towards the knife wound in Sam's stomach, "You have to remove the knife."

Jack nodded, moving his hands so that they were closer to the knife but still putting pressure on the wound, even as Tony said, "But if you take the knife out she'll bleed out."

Vala just shook her head and shut her eyes. The healing device began to glow and the NCIS team all took a step back, they had not been expecting that.

"Here," Daniel said in a low voice to Ziva, "Let me take a look at your cuts." He was holding a first aid kit ready.

Ziva shook her head, "I'm fine; the Colonel took most of what Ba'al had to dish out."

Daniel shook his head in return, "Only Vala can help her now. Your arms on the other hand need a look at."

Vala was about to decline again when Tony whispered to her, "He needs to do this Ziva, let him." Ziva then nodded and let Daniel attend to her wounds.

"What do you mean?" Ziva asked in a low voice.

"Their team may well be closer knit than ours; if he wasn't looking after you I expect Dr Jackson may well look very much like Colonel Mitchel."

They both looked up and could see the Cam was pacing back and forth, keeping an eye on Ba'al but every so often he would glance towards where Vala was kneeling over Sam, her hands still glowing.

"Take the knife out," Vala said in a low voice to Jack.

He nodded and then said in an even lower voice to Sam, "Sorry, this is going to hurt," and he pulled out the knife and dropped it to the side before he took hold of Sam's hand, not caring about the blood that was all over his.

McGee, Gibbs, Tony and Ziva all expected blood to begin flowing out but that didn't happen, instead it looked like the skin was beginning to knit itself back together.

"You cannot save her," Ba'al said, "Only a god could do that now."

"Someone shut him up," Vala said through gritted teeth, "And remind him who I once was."

Teal'c inclined his head and moved towards Ba'al, even as Ba'al scoffed and said, "She will not be able to save her now, she is too far gone."

Teal'c didn't speak, just punched him in the face. "That is for ColonelCarter," he said as Ba'al dabbed at his split lip and bleeding nose. "However, the next one will be for me and then I will kill you for all the pain you have caused."

Ba'al smirked but said no more.

Vala let her hands drop away and said, "I have done all I can."

Jack nodded and asked, "Can you do anything about the other cuts; we need to stop her loosing blood."

Vala nodded weakly and raised her hands once more, moving them over Sam's body, healing any cuts that were still bleeding as she went.

Eventually she finished and dropped back. Daniel caught her as she fell backwards, exhausted. "Let's get you out of here Vala," he muttered.

She shook her head, "I won't go until Sam wakes up."

Everyone turned their attention to where Jack was leaning over Sam and whispering. As they listened they could hear his quiet words. "Come on Carter. Please wake up, you have to wake up. I made you a promise Sam and I so want to keep it. You have to wake up so I can keep it."

A few tears escaped from his eyes and ran down his cheeks before falling into Sam's hair. "Please wake up Sam, it can't end this way. Not now when we were so close. I was writing a letter to inform the President that I planned on retiring soon when this all started Sam, then I was going to come back to Colorado Springs and tell you." He buried his head in Sam's hair and inhaled the scent of her flowery shampoo and everything that made Sam Sam. It was a smell that she always seemed to keep even after being held in some Goa'ulds dungeon for days or weeks or even months and to him it smelt like home.

The tears continued to fall as Daniel gasped and looked over to Teal'c, only those two understood fully Jack's words, only they knew how strongly Jack and Sam felt for each other. Cam and Vala knew to some extent but they did not know everything.

"I thought we agreed that no one was going to retire," came Sam's weak voice.

"You're alive," Jack said, pulling back slightly.

"Looks like," Sam said with a wince. She looked behind Jack to Vala, "Thank you Vala."

"Yes," Jack said, not taking his eyes off Sam, "Thank you Vala."

Vala smiled weakly, "Well if Sam died who would I go shopping with?"

Sam laughed and sat up slowly, with assistance from Jack. "Are you ok Agent David?" she asked, leaning on Jack heavily as she looked around the dim room until she found Ziva.

Ziva nodded, "Thanks to you I am fine and after what you did you can call me Ziva. You saved my life."

Sam smiled weakly. Gibbs then said, "You should both be checked out."

Sam shook her head, "There's nothing wrong with me, not anymore, Vala saw to that."

Jack was the one who shook his head, "You lost a lot of blood; you need to be checked out."

"And how am I meant to explain how I lost all that blood?" Sam asked.

"Getting checked out might not be a bad idea Sam," Vala said, "Just to make sure I didn't miss anything."

"We'll take you both to get Ducky to check you out," Gibbs said, "That way there will be no hospital and you can explain what the hell all this was about."

Jack looked over at Sam and when she nodded he looked to Cam and said, "You take Teal'c and Ba'al and ring Landry and get transport arranged to get back to Colorado Springs, preferably of the fast kind. At the first sign of any trouble you have full authorisation to shoot to kill."

"Yes sir," Cam said, pulling out his phone.

As Daniel helped Vala off the floor Sam asked, "Are you alright Vala?" Jack shook his head slightly, it was so Sam, just come back to life and more worried about other people than herself.

The alien woman nodded, "Healing you just took it out of me; I'll be fine in a bit."

Jack looked at her, "Would you prefer to go back now Vala?"

She shook her head, "No, I need to be around in case I missed something."

Jack nodded without saying a word and then began to help Sam off the floor. Given how much blood she had lost it was no mean feat and when she was eventually up right she again leant heavily on Jack for support.

"T," Jack said, "I don't know if I'm going to be able to get her up those steps on my own and you're the strongest here."

Teal'c nodded and moved closer. "Mitchell," Jack called, "Will you be alright on your own for a few minutes?"

He was still on the phone but Cam nodded and pulled out his gun, training it on the smirking Ba'al.

As Teal'c picked up Sam she looked over to the smirking Ba'al and said, "Just because you're not dead yet doesn't mean you won't be soon, as soon as you get back to Cheyenne there will be plenty of people waiting for you."

Ba'al smirked, "You will not harm the host."

"Whoever said anything about the host," Vala said, "We're talking about the snake inside."

The whole conversation went straight over the NCIS teams head but they all heard what Vala said as she moved the kneel in front of Ba'al and whisper, "And let me tell you, from personal experience, the procedure is extremely painful for the snake while the host feels very little."

She walked away and they all quickly made their way to the surface.


	7. Chapter 7

**So I haven't posted in a little while but here you go. Hope you like it.**

The drive back to the Navy Yard was silent. Sam was huddled against Jack, still suffering heavily from blood lose. Ziva was watching the two of them closely from the passenger seat while Tony drove and everyone else was piled into the other cars.

They went through the security at the Navy Yard quickly and all parked in adjoining parking spots. Sam and Jack were the last to get out and once they were both standing Gibbs handed Sam an old jumper. "Sorry Sam but it's all I've got to hand and you're going to cause a scene if you walk through the building looking like you do."

Sam looked down at herself and realised that Gibbs was right, while her injuries had mostly been healed by Vala her clothes hadn't. Her t-shirt was full of holes and slice marks and the fabric that had been untouched by the knife was soaked in blood. She reached for the jumper and, with help from Jack and Daniel; she raised her arms and slipped into it. "Thanks Leo," she said.

Gibbs just nodded before saying, "Let's get you and Ziva down to autopsy to get you checked out."

Ziva and Sam both nodded and as they walked towards the building, Sam supported by both Jack and Gibbs she asked, "Vala, how are you doing?"

"I'm alright," Vala answered from where she was walking beside Daniel, "I could just do with some food."

Gibbs looked at her and said, "There's a vending machine near the bull pen."

Vala nodded and looked at Daniel. "Yes Vala, we'll go and get you some food then go down the autopsy to check on Sam."

Sam smiled, "You know I don't need to be checked on Daniel."

Daniel shrugged as they reached the doors to the building, "Until you've been checked over by a doctor I reserve the right to worry."

Sam and Jack both laughed as they went their separate ways. Gibbs, Ziva and Tony all accompanied Sam and Jack towards autopsy while McGee went with Vala and Daniel to help them out.

They walked into autopsy and Ducky looked up from the cadaver he was cutting up. "Jethro," he said, "How can I help you?"

Gibbs and Jack helped Sam up onto one of the clean tables while Ziva took a seat next to her. "These two need to be checked out," Gibbs said, "By someone who won't ask questions."

Ducky nodded slowly and peeled off his gloves and blood splattered scrubs before he took off his visor and placed it to the side. "Who first?" he questioned, snapping on a clean pair of gloves as he moved towards them.

"Sam needs an x-ray or something to check for internal damage," Gibbs said, "And they both need to be checked over for any serious injuries."

Ducky nodded once more and looked over to Sam. "Why do you need an x-ray dear?" he asked quietly.

"To check for any internal damage," Sam answered with a wince.

"Are there any surface wounds?" Ducky asked Sam before looking at Palmer and saying, "See if you can find the ultrasound machine Mr Palmer."

"Yes doctor," Jimmy answered heading towards the cupboard.

"There were," Sam answered, "I was stabbed in the stomach but there are no marks anymore."

Ducky gave Gibbs a confused look. "Just go with it Duck and make sure she's not about to die on us," Gibbs said to the man.

"I'd explain more," Sam said, "But it's classified."

Ducky nodded and said, "You're going to have to take your top off I'm afraid."

Sam nodded and then Gibbs and Jack helped her out of the oversized jumper. She may have been healed by Vala but she was still tender and there were smaller cuts all over her body that were beginning to hurt.

"Are you in any pain?" Ducky asked as Sam struggled with her t-shirt.

Eventually they gave up and Sam said, "Not enough pain to bother me and can you just cut the t-shirt, there's not really much to save anyway."

Ducky nodded and picked up the scissors to cut away the bloody fabric just as Palmer returned with the machine and Vala and Daniel came into autopsy laden down with food and closely followed by McGee.

Sam smiled as Vala handed her a chocolate bar and then sat down beside her, swinging her feet off the side of the autopsy table. Sam ripped open the wrapper and took a bite as Ducky squirted some gel onto her stomach. "Vala I could kiss you right now," Sam said with a small laugh.

Vala laughed too, "It's just chocolate Sam, I seem to remember that it's good for blood loose."

Sam laughed again and then looked at Ducky. "See anything Doctor?" she asked.

Ducky shook his head, "No internal bleeding that I can see and it doesn't look like you were stabbed at all."

Sam nodded and smiled and then looked over at Jack, who had moved away once Sam was undressed. He was stood in the corner, having scrubbed the blood off his hands in the sink, watching Sam carefully. From the look on his face Sam could see that something was up. Daniel had obviously noticed it too because he put the food on the autopsy table and moved towards Jack. "She's ok Jack," Daniel said as he got closer, "She's alive and sitting right over there."

Jack just nodded and Sam sighed. After wiping the gel off her stomach and pulling the jumper back over her head she went over to him, giving Daniel a smile as she passed him.

Ducky watched her before he looked back to Ziva. Ziva sighed and took off her jacket so that Ducky could take a look at the cuts on her arms and face. "They've already been cleaned well," Ducky said, "And they should be fine."

Ziva nodded and then they all fell silent, not knowing what else to say. In the silence they could just hear Sam's hushed words to Jack. "I don't blame you Jack, you know that. I'm fine and Ba'al is with Teal'c and you know he's not going anywhere with an angry Teal'c watching his every move." Daniel chuckled a little at his words before he picked up a bag of crisps and opened them.

Sam and Jack continued to speak to one another, leaning against the walls with Sam's hand resting on Jack's arm, but now their voices were too low for anyone else in the room to hear.

Daniel and Vala had just finished offering food around when they heard the lift stop and the autopsy doors open. "Director, can I help you with something?" Ducky asked.

Leon looked around and said, "I was just informed that there was an Air Force General in the building and working with one of my teams."

"Director," Gibbs said stepping forward, "This is Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill, Lieutenant Colonel Sam Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran."

Leon looked at all of them as Gibbs spoke before his eyes landed on Jack and he said, "There is someone up stairs waiting to talk to you General."

"Since when is Vance a messenger boy?" Tony asked Ziva in a low voice.

Leon have him a raised eyebrow and Tony looked at the floor while McGee and Ziva both laughed quietly.

On the other side of the room Jack sighed and said, "Thank you Director and I am sorry that you were not informed of our presence here but we wanted to work fast, someone we have known for close to ten years was killed and we wanted to get to the bottom of it."

Leon nodded and said, "They are waiting for you in MTAC."

Jack nodded and looked at Sam quickly, checking that she was ok to come with him. Once she had nodded the two of them lead the way out of the room, Sam stopping to thank Ducky on her way past.

Jack and Sam were the first out of the lift on the right floor and they moved quickly towards the door to MTAC, Sam managing to look graceful and poised even in an old too big jumper. Gibbs tried to get ahead of them to use the iris scanner but before he could get to it Jack had scanned his eye and they were already walking into MTAC. "So that still works then," Jack muttered to Sam.

She nodded, "I wonder if mine still does."

They all stopped dead when they saw who was standing in front of the large screen. "General, Colonel," he greeted Sam and Jack.

"Sir," they both said together, saluting.

"What are you doing here Mr President?" Jack asked as everyone filled in behind them.

"You weren't picking up your phone General," the President said, sounding a little annoyed, "I needed to speak to you urgently."

The screen behind them lit up and the Joint Chiefs and General Landry all appeared on screen.

Jack and Sam shared a look before Jack pointed towards the chairs, indicating for Sam to sit. She was still feeling weak so she agreed without a word.

"I went to your office," the President said, "When I couldn't get a hold of you, I thought you might have been visiting with some of our allies. What I found instead was a letter you had obviously been writing and which I am afraid we cannot accept."

Jack was silent for a moment before he said in a low voice, "I came to assist SG1 in the search for Colonel Reynolds killer and it is just as well I did otherwise Carter and Agent David would be dead. As for the letter I will be retiring sir. I was retired eleven years ago when I got pulled back into service and since then I have done everything that has been asked of me, I think I deserve some choice of how and when I leave."

The President looked Jack up and down as one of the Joint Chiefs spoke on screen. "You have gone above and beyond your duty General and we all respect the hell out of you for it but we still need you."

Jack reached into his pocket and plunged the blood knife he had pulled out of Sam's stomach into the arm of a chair, where it stayed wobbling slightly from side to side. "Ba'al came after Carter because of me. He came within an inch of killing her with this knife and he did it to get to me."

He was seething, he wanted to retire and that was it but they were making it more difficult than it needed to be. "Everyone but General O'Neill out of the room please," the President said, looking between the knife, Sam, Jack and the drop by the door.

Daniel helped Sam back up from the seat; she was sat there watching the still quivering knife with a pale face. Jack watched her as she followed the NCIS team out of the room and then was followed by the MTAC personnel.

As the door shut Jack looked back to the screen and the President.

**So someone mentioned Abby being a part of the story, sorry I can't remember who, but she's not going to be a part of it until a little later**


	8. Chapter 8

**In an attempt to avoid doing revision, which I know I'm going to regret at the end of the Easter holiday, I have been writing a bit more than normal so expect updates for most of my on going stories within the next week and a half.**

**Hope you like it :D**

Outside Sam leant against the wall, she hadn't realised that Jack had picked up the knife and seeing it with her blood still all over it had made her realise just how close this one had actually been. She sank down the wall, suddenly feeling weak and rested her head on her knees.

They had been so close to finally being together but if they wouldn't accept Jack's resignation then it wouldn't happen and she knew it. The Air Force didn't bend their rules for anybody even if she and Jack had saved the world time and again and had never asked for anything in return.

She was aware that around her people were talking. The hustle and bustle of the bull pen below them and then closer she could hear as Daniel, Vala, Gibbs and the others all discussed what was going on inside of MTAC.

"My first question," the Director said, "Is how does an Air Force General's iris scan open a highly secured area of NCIS?"

"Um," Daniel said, looking to Vala for assistance.

"The General has clearance well above yours director," Sam said into her knees, "His iris is part of the system for all the government locks in the country, part of his job means he can go pretty much anywhere he pleases."

"Sam," Daniel said as she finished speaking, "You alright?"

Sam shrugged, "I've been better, but then again I've been worse."

Daniel pulled another chocolate bar out of his pocket and pushed it into her hand. "Eat something, see if that helps."

Sam nodded and lifted her head so she could eat the food.

"Doctor Jackson," Gibbs said in the silence, "Why did the President come here personally? Surely there are easier ways of doing this."

Sam was glad that he hadn't asked her and had just left her to eat in peace. "Um," Daniel said again, "Jack reports directly to the President and the Joint Chiefs so when he's not answering his phone on a working day then they get a little nervous." Gibbs frowned and Daniel sighed, "I'd explain more but…"

"It's classified," Gibbs finished for him.

Daniel nodded; then he winced as they heard raised voices from inside MTAC.

Sam too winced and Tony whistled, "He must be really pissed if we can hear him out here."

Gibbs glared at him and then Sam suddenly bolted up right and said, "Daniel, my laptop, where's my laptop."

"Woah there Sam," Daniel said, gently resting his hands on her arms, "Calm down, your laptop is on McGee's desk; it's ok."

Behind him he heard as Ziva quickly moved down the stairs and towards McGee's desk. "I've got to get it," Sam said, "I need to check the letters."

She tried to throw off Daniel's light hands but she was still too weak. "Sam," Daniel said again, "You're ok. Your letters don't need touched yet and hopefully won't for a long time."

Ziva came back up the stairs, Sam's laptop in its bag slung over her shoulder. "Here," she said, handing it to Sam.

"See," Daniel said, "Your laptop is fine and you're fine. Jack is ok and we're all alive. Take a deep breath and calm down Sam. You're still suffering from the after effects, you need to stay calm, Ba'al can't do anything else to you, he's with Teal'c and Cam and they're not going to let him out of their site until he's been handed off."

Sam nodded and sucked in a breath just as the door to MTAC swung open, smacking against the wall as Jack stormed out.

Jack stood, switching his gaze from the President to the screen to the knife that was now free standing in the arm of the chair. He was breathing heavily, knowing that he had lost his temper and in a pretty spectacular way too.

He heard the door shut and then the President began to speak. "You have done so much for this planet Jack, all of your team has. Time and again you have gone beyond the call of duty to save us all. I know you want to retire Jack but you simply can't, we need you too much, there is no one else who can do the job like you do it. There is no one else I know of who can get things done as fast as you can, you're the one who placates the other nations when it comes to the Stargate Programme and I don't think anyone else would have the nerve to say half of the things you say."

Jack sighed before saying, "You don't understand. The reason I went on the first trip was because my son had just died and I had no problem with not coming back but then I found a reason, Daniel made me want to live again and then I met Carter. There is no one else in this world, this galaxy, who makes feel as alive as I do around Carter, there is no one who makes me stop and smell the roses like she does." He paused and clenched his hands into a fist to stop them shaking. "I've loved her for years but neither have us have ever done anything against the rules because we knew we were needed but now you don't need me," he knew he was shouting, which wasn't really something you did when you were talking to the President of the United States and your Commander in Chief, but right now he really really didn't care. "The Goa'uld have been gone for years and now the Ori are no longer a threat. I'm not needed and I want to move on with my life."

He took a breath and then said, in a more quiet voice, "We have died for this planet, given our minds and nearly worked ourselves into an early grave and we have only ever asked for two things, that Teal'c be able to live off base and that Carter could take her father to see the Tok'ra, to save his life and give us new allies. We rarely questioned the orders that we were given, and when we did we did it for the good of the planet. We have seen countless people die and we have seen more than our fair share of planets destroyed. We've been tortured to within inches of our lives and yet you can't let me do something as simple as retire now that the world is at peace and safe."

He spun and headed towards the door. As he pulled it open roughly he said, "You want to know the last thing Jacob Carter ever said to me? He told me to make sure his daughter was happy which is exactly what I intend to do."

He exited the room, aware that Gibbs, Ziva, Tony, McGee and Vance were all watching him opened mouthed, while Vala and Daniel were both shaking their heads, although he was sure the two of them had small smiles on their faces.

"General O'Neill," the President said, coming to stand in the doorway, "You cannot just walk away from this discussion. You have responsibilities."

Jack scoffed as he knelt in front of Sam. "I'll walk where ever I damn well please. The only thing you can do is fire me and that is fine by me. My only responsibility right now is to get Carter somewhere she can sleep and recover, she almost died because of a grudge Ba'al had against me and I will not let it happen again."

He then said in a lower voice, speaking only to Sam, "You ok to walk?"

Sam nodded and stood, holding her laptop close as she did so. Jack turned to look at Daniel as the other man said, "Jack."

"I know, wake her every so often and get her to eat and drink." Jack looked at the still open door to MTAC and could see smirk the President was frowning as were the Joint Chiefs although he was pretty sure he could see a smile on Landry's face but he couldn't be sure. "Can you," he waved his arm in the direction of MTAC.

Daniel nodded, "Just like old times, me getting you out of the trouble your big mouth has landed you in."

Jack shrugged and wrapped an arm around Sam's waist for support before he headed towards the lift without so much as a backwards glance. As everyone watched he swung Sam up into his arms and they could hear as she said, in a firm but quiet voice, "You put me down right now Jonathan O'Neill, carrying me when I've been shot is one thing but right now I am perfectly capable of walking."

Jack put her back on her own two feet as soon as they were in the lift but wrapped his arm around her tightly and said in a quiet voice, that Gibbs and the others struggled to hear, "Yes ma'am, whatever you say ma'am."

The lift doors shut and the two vanished from sight.


	9. Chapter 9

"So," Daniel said turning to the President, "Anything I can say to change your minds about letting Jack retire?"

"Doctor Jackson, I have seen you negotiating and I know full well that you're going to talk me into it but the truth is we need both General O'Neill and Colonel Carter on the programme," the President answered.

Daniel shook his head, "With all due respect sir, no we don't. All the threats we have faced have been dealt with and Jack isn't needed."

"He is the only one the Russians take notice of," the President disagreed, walking back into MTAC.

Daniel followed but the NCIS team hung back, unsure of whether they were welcome but all curious to see what would happen. Vala followed Daniel in and then the President looked towards the door and said, "Thank you agents, director, we can take it from here."

The team all got the message and walked away, all heading towards Vance's office as he said in a low voice, "My office, all of you."

Back in MTAC Daniel looked at the knife that was still in the arm of the chair. He moved to pull it out but found it harder than he would have expected, Jack had obviously been incredibly pissed off when he had done this as the knife was really stuck in.

Once the knife was out he lay it down flat on the arm, not knowing what else to do with it. He then looked over at the screen and said to Landry, "Have Teal'c, Cam and Ba'al arrived?"

Landry nodded, "Yes, they are currently in holding Doctor Jackson. Teal'c and Cam are both refusing to let him leave their sight until he is handed over to the Tok'ra."

"Good," Daniel said, "I just hope he tries to escape beforehand."

Landry nodded, he had heard a quick explanation from Teal'c and Cam about the happenings of the day.

"Before we start discussing General O'Neill and his blatant disregard for my position," the President said before anyone else could speak, "I would like an explanation of recent events, starting with why you are all in DC in the first place, let alone working with NCIS."

"Why don't you take a seat Mr President," Daniel said, gesturing to the seat beside Vala, "Might as well be comfortable."

The President gave a nod and then moved to sit beside Vala, both staying well away from the blood covered knife.

"At the beginning of this week," Daniel began, "We received some garbled reports from DC of possible activity related to the Stargate and the Stargate programme. SG1 were off world at the time so I don't really know all that much about it."

Daniel stopped to give the President a chance to speak to Landry about the information but then continued when he instead said, "You continue Doctor Jackson, I will speak to Landry later when I am back in my office."

Daniel nodded and continued. "We returned the day before Colonel Reynolds was reported missing. When he didn't check in with the SGC or his team General Landry made some enquires and sent us to DC so we would be ready to go as soon as he had information. When we arrived the General informed us that Reynolds body had been found and the medical examiner here at the Navy Yard was doing the autopsy."

"Rather than pull the body from the Navy Yard and have questions asked about the sort of work the Colonel was doing," Landry put in, "I instead decided to send in SG1 to help with the investigation, if the ME decided that the cause of death was anything but natural."

"Because Sam, Colonel Carter, already knew Special Agent Gibbs," Daniel continued with a nod at the screen to thank Landry for his input, "We decided that she would come to the Navy Yard first and alone to see if indeed NCIS were going to be investigating Reynolds death or if we were going to work on our own. Once Sam had found that they were investigating she called us in."

He looked at the President to check that he was still following. "When we arrived we moved into one of the conference rooms for privacy so we could show them the weapon that killed Reynolds, which we had guessed from the initial report and the information Sam gathered was a zat'nik'tel or zat as they are more commonly referred to as." He clasped his hands in front of him before he continued, "They signed a non-disclosure agreement and we explained to them what had killed Reynolds, although we still had no idea who, which is when Jack joined us. He brought the zat to show them what it was as well as guns for five of us and himself, as he was going to be joining us."

He stopped again and rocked on his feet a little before continuing, "Then we all broke off and worked on finding out where Reynolds had been with the rest of his team and after he had been separated. We found that as a team they had been concentrating their recon on four main areas, two housing estates, a marina and a warehouse. We split up and all went to the different locations, agreeing to meet back at the Navy Yard or call if we found something of use. Sam and Agent David went to the warehouse together."

"When we got back we realised that Sam and Agent David weren't back and when we couldn't reach Sam on her cell we got worried. We all went to the warehouse where they should have been and found Agent David's mini. Inside we found Sam's phone with an unsent text which read trap as well as a message written in Sam's blood in Goa'uld on the wall."

"What did the message say Doctor Jackson?" the President asked, "Exactly."

Daniel quickly answered before continuing with his narrative. "Even though we knew that where ever they were being held would be shielded I also knew that Sam was working on a way to boast the signal of our transmitters so that they could break through any outside interference, so on planets like the old Gamma site we would be able to see our people while in orbit. Jack knew the password so we were able to use the programme to find her."

"What was the password Doctor Jackson?" the President interjected.

"I don't know sir. We tried some ideas but then we saw that there was a clue and Jack used that to guess correctly but he would not tell us what it was."

"What was the clue?" Landry asked.

"Um," Daniel said remembering back, "The promise of always."

The President and Landry shared a quick glance before they all turned their attention back to Daniel. He took it as a sign to continue, "We went to the warehouse where they were being held and then found the trap door. We went down just in time to see Ba'al sticking the knife into Sam's stomach, we're guessing to kill her before he tried to run and Jack shot him. Vala used the hand device to save Sam and then we came back here to get both Sam and Agent David checked out by Doctor Mallard before we came up here and then you know the rest."

"Do you still have the device Miss mal Doran?" the President asked, looking to his side.

Vala nodded and touched the pocket of her coat, "Yes, it's right here."

"If there are no more problems," Landry said, "I would like that back here before it gets lost."

"Yes General," Vala said, pulling it out of her pocket and placing it near the knife.

There was a flash of light and both objects vanished and then appeared on Landry's desk.

The President looked at Daniel and said, "Well Doctor Jackson, do you have anything more to add?"

Daniel nodded, "Just that Jack and Sam have given ten years to the programme and that if anyone has the right to retire it is Jack, we are at peace for the first time in ten years. As for the Russians, and the rest of the counties who have been read in, if there are problems you could always call him back as a civilian consultant. But, there shouldn't be any problems now as all the clauses of the treaty are being met."

The President nodded and then said, "Thank you for your time Doctor Jackson but I need to get back to the White House."

Daniel nodded and shook his hand before the President bid farewell to the others on the plasma before leaving. The Joint Chiefs also signed off but before Landry went he asked, "Doctor Jackson, when will you be coming back?"

"Um, not sure yet General, depends on how Sam is," Daniel said looking between Vala and the screen.

"Ok Doctor," Landry answered with a nod, "Keep me up to date."

"Yes sir," Daniel said as Landry signed off.

"So," Daniel said looking over at Vala, "Time to go?"

Vala nodded, "Time to go."

They stood and headed for the door. Outside they smiled at the techs that were still waiting around and Daniel said, "All yours. The knife is gone but the blood may need cleaning up."

The group all nodded and then headed back into MTAC to carry on with their day, although both Daniel and Vala knew they were going to be talking about being kicked out of MTAC by the President for days.

**I'm already about half way through the next chapter so hopefully it will only be a couple of days before I post it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**This chapter is basically all about the NCIS team with a little bit about the President. I hope you like it.**

**Just a note that has nothing to do with the story but I feel I should share. Yesterday my brother feel off his bike and he looks like he's gone a couple of rounds with Teal'c, if he hadn't been wearing his helmet he would have more than a concussion and a little amnesia. Also, if you have a visor on your helmet wear glasses because otherwise you'll go blind.**

**Anyway, on with the chapter, hope you like it :D**

In Vance's office there was another discussion taking place.

"I would like someone to explain to me why I was not informed about a joint investigation between NCIS and whoever those people were and why I was not informed that a Lieutenant General for the US Air Force was in my house," Vance said.

The team all looked to Gibbs to answer, none of them sure what they were actually allowed to say after they had signed the non-disclosures right at the beginning of all of this. "Unfortunately Vance," Gibbs said, "That's classified."

"Classified?" Vance questioned, not sounding very pleased with Gibbs' answer.

"Yes, we all had to sign a non-disclosure before Sam would tell us what was going on," Gibbs answered quickly.

Vance nodded but he didn't look happy. "How do you know her?" he asked instead.

"General O'Neill was attached to my unit when I was a marine for a short period of time as recon for a black op," Gibbs said, as they all took a seat around the large table in the room, "And we reconnected while he and Sam were in DC for a medal presentation and I stayed in touch with the two of them."

Vance nodded, "And the knife? Can you explain that to me?"

"I will explain what I can Vance," Gibbs said. "They came down in search of a team mate who was in out morgue and once it turned out he had been murdered their team worked with us to catch who did it. We found some locations the team that Reynolds had been a part of had visited with some frequency and split up to go and investigate each area. However Sam and Ziva got kidnapped by the killer and it then turned into a man hunt for them. We found them in a warehouse where the murderer had been torturing the two of them."

Vance looked over to Ziva, "Are you ok David?"

Ziva nodded, "Colonel Carter took most of it, I got off lightly with a few shallow knife cuts to my arms. Every time the perp made it look like he was going to go after me the Colonel would provoke him and get him to leave me alone just that much longer."

"She looked ok to me," Vance said, "A little weak and obviously shaken but I couldn't see anything wrong with her."

Again they all looked to Gibbs to answer, "She was wearing my jumper Vance because her clothes were beyond saving, that's how bad it was. She is a very strong woman who doesn't show that she is hurt unless she has to."

Vance nodded and then looked at his watch. "I want you all the leave for the night. It's getting late and I'm guessing that you could all do with some sleep. You can work on the paper work tomorrow, although I don't want to see you until at least 10, which goes for all of you. I know you've been working hard the last couple of days and I don't want my best team falling asleep on the job."

The team all nodded and moved towards the doors.

They had just reached their desks and had begun to pack up for the night when Gibb's cell rang. He answered it with his customary, "Gibbs."

He listened for a moment before he said, "I'm glad she's ok and I'll make sure someone stays with her," and hung up.

"DiNozzo," he said, looking to his senior field agent, "That was General O'Neill. He told me to make sure that Ziva is not on her own tonight so you go with her and make sure she's ok."

Ziva opened her mouth to protest, that she didn't need a baby sitter, but Gibbs cut her off. "He says that Ba'al has a way of working himself in your unconscious mind, so even if you're ok now you may not be when you go to sleep tonight."

"I wasn't even there that long," Ziva said, "And he hardly touched me."

Gibbs shook his head, "The General says someone should stay with you so DiNozzo is going to stay with you, end of story."

Ziva rolled her eyes but didn't say anything more, instead just grabbed her bag and shut down her computer before straightening her desk. Once she was done she leant against it as she waited for Tony to finish with his desk.

"So," Tony said looking at Gibbs, "You really trust this General O'Neill then, if all it takes is a phone call to make you listen."

"Yes DiNozzo," Gibbs said, leading the way towards the lift now that they were all done, "He saved the life of my whole unit when he was with us and then later, after he had left on his black op, he saved a young air man and got captured in the process."

"Oh," was all Tony said as the lift doors slid shut in front of them.

They all separated at the front of the building, heading to their own cars. Vala and Daniel had parked Ziva's mini back where it had been at the beginning of the day, which beside Tony's car.

"Do you want to ride with me Ziva?" Tony asked. "It would give you a chance to rest a little and since I'm staying with you we don't need both cars, we can lift share tomorrow."

"You don't have to Tony," Ziva said, leaning against the door of the mini.

"I want to," Tony insisted, "Anyway Gibbs would kill me if he found out I let you go home alone."

Ziva laughed and then nodded, "Yeah, we'll take your car. Do we need to stop at yours first so you have clothes for tomorrow?"

Tony nodded, "Might not be a bad idea." They got into the car and Tony pulled out of the parking spot before he continued, "I'll run up and grab some stuff and you can order us some take out that we can pick up on the way to yours."

Ziva nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

The President sighed as he sank back into his chair in the Oval Office. Today had been a hard day, not least because of the fight he had had with Jack. He had known for years how Sam and Jack felt about each other, how could he not after meeting them and reading between the lines on some of their mission reports, and he really did want them to be happy. But he was also worried about how everything would go if Jack did in deed resign; he had been with the programme since the mission to Abydos and had been a large part of everything that was to do with the Stargate Programme. The President sighed and then reached across the desk and picked up the phone and dialled.

"Hello George," he said when the person on the other end answered, "Sorry for calling so late but I need your help with something."

"_Of course_," General Hammond answered, "_What can I do for you this evening._"

"I need some advice," the President answered, settling back into his seat and looking up at the ceiling.

"_On what?_" Hammond asked.

"General O'Neill and Colonel Carter," the President answered quickly.

"_Oh, what happened?_" Hammond asked, sounding worried.

"Nothing inappropriate George I promise, but Jack wants to resign and the reason why is clear. I however don't know if I can let him," the President answered.

"_Ah_," came Hammonds reply, "_But why call me?_"

"Because Henry Hayes had a great amount of respect for you and I trust your judgement when it comes to the two of them."

Hammond laughed. "_All I can do is tell you to do what you think is right. But I will point out that the Goa'uld have been gone for a while and now the Ori are dealt with. There are also other people who can deal with the Russians, although it won't be in quite the same way as Jack always did._"

"Thank you," the President said, sitting up once more and looking out of the window. "So how are you George? Feeling any better?"

"_I'm good at the moment thank you sir but I'm not as young as I used to be_," Hammond replied.

"Well good. If you feel up to it the First Lady has been bugging me about inviting you to dinner again, she had a great time the last time."

"_Thank you sir, I'll keep that in mind_."

"I'll leave you to your sleep George," the President said.

"_Good night Mr President_," Hammond replied.

"Good night," the President said before he hung up and placed the phone back in its cradle.

He looked out of the window for a few more moments before he picked up the phone once more, he had calls to make now that he had come to a decision.

"I'll take the couch," Tony said as they finished their dinner.

Ziva nodded, "I'll got grab you a pillow and blanket."

"Thanks," Tony said as Ziva threw him the blanket and pillow.

"You don't have to stay," Ziva said one more time.

Tony just rolled his eyes and put the pillow behind his head and got comfortable on the couch. "Night Ziiiiva," he said.

"Night Tony," Ziva said with a smile as she made her way towards her room to go to sleep.

A few hours later Tony started awake as he heard someone yelling. He jumped off the couch and followed the noise to Ziva's room. He pushed the door open and saw that Ziva was trashing around on the bed. He moved quickly to her side and grabbed hold of her shoulders and shook her, trying to get her to wake up. The next thing he knew he was lying on his back with Ziva pinning him by his throat.

"It's only me Ziva," he wheezed.

It took her a moment but eventually Ziva let got and got off him and leant against the headboard. Tony lay there for a moment, catching his breath, before he sat up and looked at Ziva. He was shocked but not really surprised that she was crying silently. He reached out and pulled her to his chest, he expected resistance but was glad when Ziva just made herself more comfortable and continued to cry into Tony's shoulder.

When she had finished she pulled away and gave Tony a smile, "Sorry Tony."

"Don't be," Tony said, "It was just as well Gibbs insisted I came home with you isn't it."

Ziva just nodded and looked away. Tony could tell she was obviously ashamed by her actions, usually she was the strong one and she rarely let her guard down to cry in private, let alone into his shoulder.

He tenderly reached out and gently brushed the few tears away that still clung to her lashes. Ziva tried to look away but Tony hooked his fingers under her chin and gently titled her head so that she was looking straight at him. "You can use my shoulder to cry on any time," he whispered before he pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Thank you Tony," Ziva whispered back as Tony's lips lingered a little longer than they should have.

"I'll go back to the couch, leave you to sleep," Tony said, pulling away. He didn't want to out stay his welcome.

Ziva however shook her head and grabbed his hand, almost desperately. "Stay with me," she asked in a low voice, "You make me feel safe Tony and I need that right now."

He heard how vulnerable she sounded so without a word he moved so he was lying above the sheet next to where she was still leant against the headboard. Ziva lay down in front of him and he thought that would be the end of it so he was a little surprised when she scooted closer to him and felt behind her for his arm which she then placed around her waist.

"Thank you," he heard her mutter before she feel silent and Tony could both hear and feel her breathing even out as she fell asleep.

"Good night," he whispered in return before he too shut his eyes and fell into a sleep full of Ziva.

**Not sure when the next chapter will be up since I've only written a little so far and I've got ideas for my other stories I want to get down, as well as the dreaded revision.**

**Tell me what you think of the last bit between Tony and Ziva, I think it's maybe a little out of character but the way the tenth season is going it might not be that far off.**


	11. Chapter 11

The next day Tony and Ziva were in by half ten, having slept late. Ziva had been shocked when she woke up and looked at the clock to see that it was nearly nine o'clock; she hadn't slept that late in years, although she guessed that having Tony's arms around her had made her feel warm and safe. Going by the smile on his face as he slept he felt the same way.

They sat at their respective desks and Gibbs looked between the two of them. "You ok Ziver?" he asked looking at her as he spoke.

Ziva nodded. "Yes Gibbs," Ziva said, glancing at Tony before back to Gibbs.

Gibbs saw the glance but didn't comment, instead he looked towards the lift as McGee exited and headed towards his desk.

Once McGee was seated Gibbs said, "Well get on with it, we need to do the paper work for yesterday."

"I don't think so," Sam said as she walked towards Gibbs' desk, having just got off the lift.

"Sam," Gibbs greeted, "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm alright," Sam answered, "I just needed some sleep."

Gibbs nodded and then gave her a small smile before he asked, "So why are you here today?"

Sam sighed, "To apologise to your director for yesterday, not that I remember much of it."

"Why not someone else?" Ziva asked, "Surely you have some time off after yesterday."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "I could say the same thing to you Ziva." She smiled at her before she answered the question, "I'm here because Mitchell and Teal'c took Ba'al back to Colorado and Vala and Daniel went back last night after they knew I was ok, and General O'Neill was summoned to the White House so he can't do it, which leaves only me."

"Is he in trouble?" Tony asked, "I mean, no one talks to the President like that and gets away with it."

Sam couldn't help it and laughed lightly. "Sorry," she said after a minute, "But if you knew him you wouldn't say that. He called a roomful of Russian diplomats morons and now they love him."

Tony, Ziva and McGee all stared at her. "Is that what Doctor Jackson meant yesterday when he said that it was like old times?" McGee questioned.

"Umm," Sam said, trying to remember.

"Just before you left Sam," Gibbs prompted gently, knowing that she was struggling.

"Oh," Sam said, looking at the sheepish looking McGee, "Yes, among other things. Diplomacy was never his strong suit, he prefers the shot first ask later method of getting things done."

"So why aren't we doing paper work for yesterday?" Ziva asked as McGee nodded in response to Sam's answer.

"Because Ziva, this never happened. Reynolds death was classed as a heart attack on the pathology report and so no investigation was carried out," Sam explained, "Our little episode with Ba'al never happened, at least not on paper."

Ziva and Gibbs both understood quickly while McGee and Tony didn't look so sure.

Sam sighed lightly and said, "Well I better get this over with."

Gibbs nodded but then had to ask, "Why aren't you in uniform Sam?"

"Because Leo," Sam answered, "I'm on two weeks of downtime, I only got it this morning after Jack's secretary dropped it off after picking up Cam's car and the jacket won't go over the bandages on my arm from where Ba'al dug my chip out, since Vala could only partially heal it."

"Ah," was all Gibbs said, noticing for the first time that one of Sam's forearms was a lot bigger than the other. Sam followed his gaze and shrugged before she gave the four of them a smile and then headed up the stairs and towards where she had been informed, by the guy at the downstairs desk, the director's office was located.

Gibbs watched her go and then looked at the rest of his team and said, "Well since we don't have yesterday's paperwork to do I'm sure the three of you have outstanding paperwork from one of our recent cases." He was speaking to all of them but he was concentrating mainly on Tony as he spoke.

Ziva smirked while McGee chuckled lightly under his breath. "I'm going to get coffee and then go and see Abby," Gibbs said, standing. He glanced towards the director's office before he headed to the lift and got in.

Sam walked up to the secretary's desk and waited for the woman there to finish on the phone before she started speaking. "Colonel Carter; I'm here to meet with Director Vance, if he is available."

"Do you have an appointment?" the woman asked looking up from the computer screen where she had been making notes.

"No," Sam answered, "This is a very last minute thing, to do with the events of yesterday."

The secretary nodded and pushed the intercom button. "I have someone to see you director. A Colonel Carter, she says it has to do with yesterday."

"Send her in," came Vance's voice, "And hold any calls until we're finished."

The woman nodded, even though Vance couldn't see her, and then said to Sam, "Go on in Colonel Carter."

Sam nodded and headed to the door. She placed her hand on the knob and paused for a brief second before she opened the door and went in. Vance had just stood up and was heading towards the long table by the plasma when she opened the door and he gestured to one of the chairs, "Make yourself comfortable Colonel Carter, if the way you were yesterday is anything to go by then you could use it."

"Thank you Director," Sam said, taking a seat one up from the one Vance was now occupying.

"So," Vance said, "Why are you here?"

Sam wrung her hands for a pregnant minute, wondering how she was going to start. "I'm guessing that Leo told you as much as he could, how a team mate of ours was murdered and that in the process of finding the killer myself and Agent David got kidnapped by the killer."

Vance nodded, "He explained that yes."

Sam nodded, "Well that is really all you can know unfortunately."

"I am the Director of NCIS," Vance retorted, "I think I deserve to know what happened yesterday."

Sam shook her head, "No Director. As far as Reynolds family is concerned he died of a heart attack and there was never an investigation, yesterday never happened. I know that you think you need to know but you don't Ba'al is gone, for good this time," she added quietly to herself, "And it is unlikely that you will ever see any of my team again."

Vance frowned, "Is that the only reason you are here?"

"No Director," Sam said with the shake of her head, "I am also here to apologise and say thank you on the behalf of the President for letting him take over MTAC yesterday evening."

"Can you tell me why the President and General O'Neill seemed to be so angry at each other?" Vance questioned, expecting to be shot down, "I mean no one walks away from the President when he is speaking to them."

"All you need to know about that is that General O'Neill is head strong and in love and wants to retire and the President doesn't think he can manage without him." Sam was proud that she kept her voice steady; she was more than ready for all of this to be over, including the debate over Jack's retirement.

Vance detected a hint of something in her voice but he couldn't quite place it so he ignored it. Instead he asked, "What is it that General O'Neill does that makes him so indispensable?"

"Classified," Sam answered shortly. Vance nodded while Sam continued to say, "We also wanted to apologise for not informing you of our involvement yesterday, any of us, but we knew that the guy who did this was unlikely to stick around so we had to act fast."

Vance nodded, "I can understand that."

Sam stood and reached out a hand for him to shake. "If you don't have any more questions then I will let you get back to your work."

Vance shook her hand and said, "I have one more Colonel, who was this Ba'al character? Gibbs said yesterday that he was torturing you and Agent David, although you took the brunt of it, goading him when he headed towards my agent."

"Ba'al is a bad guy who has been a thorn in our side for too long and who holds a personnel grudge against General O'Neill and probably me too, along with the rest of the team to a lesser degree."

"Can I ask why?" Vance asked, also standing, "He holds a grudge I mean."

"The General made it his aim to piss him off Director while he has a grudge against me because he believes that women are weak and I proved him wrong, as well as nearly broke his nose the last time we met." She figured that would be enough to answer his question but still keep him in the dark too.

Vance nodded and shook her hand once more, "It seems to me he was wrong to mess with you Colonel, and the rest of your team."

"Yes Director, but he won't be doing it again," Sam said, heading to the door and opening it.

"Thank you Colonel," Vance said just before she crossed the threshold, "For explaining some of yesterday's events to me personally rather than sending a paper pusher."

Sam smiled, "You're welcome Director Vance."

She then crossed the threshold and shut to door behind her. Vance headed back to his seat and pulled another stack of paperwork towards him. While he hadn't gotten all the answers he wanted he had gotten most of them so he was happy.


	12. Chapter 12

**My exams start in just over a week so I don't known when I will be posting the next chapter, it could be soon or it could be a while, depends on how often I take breaks from my revision to write.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, this story has reached 101 so far which is triple figures and which is something that I am proud of given how unsure I was at the beginning of this story.**

**I hope you like this chapter :D**

Sam walked back into the bullpen and smiled at Gibbs. "How'd it go?" he asked, as Sam stopped in front of his desk. The rest of the team all looked up from their assorted paperwork and gave a smile before turning back to what they were doing, which in Tony's case was switching his gaze between his desk and Ziva.

Sam shrugged, "As well as can be expected considering I'm not actually allowed to say all that much, even if he is the director of NCIS."

Gibbs smiled at her. "So are you going back to Colorado Springs tonight?" he questioned.

Sam shook her head, "No, I'm staying around DC for a couple of days, hopefully at least anyway."

Gibbs nodded and was about to ask more when Sam's phone rang. She smiled at him apologetically before digging it out of her pocket, wincing slightly as her bandages rubbed against her jacket, causing her cut to pull a little. She looked at the caller ID and smiled when she saw who it was. "General O'Neill," she greeted.

"_Carter,_" the team heard the quiet reply, "_Where are you?_" The NCIS team could hear every word that Jack was saying, but they did have to listen carefully, which meant now they were just pretending to work as the relationship between Sam and Jack had interested them all immensely the day before, and they could all hear that he sounded worried.

"I'm still at NCIS," Sam replied, "I just got through with explaining and apologising to the director."

"_Are you ok?_" came Jack's worried reply.

"I'm fine, I promise I'm ok, I'm with people at the Navy Yard nothing is going to happen to me," Sam said into the phone, avoiding the eyes of the team as they turned back to her.

"_That's not what I meant Carter,_" Jack replied.

Sam rolled her eyes, "You know me sir; I'm always ok, just like you always are."

They heard Jack chuckle and say, "_God help us all_." There was a pause before they heard Jack ask, "_Will you stay there Carter? At the Navy Yard and I'll come and get you_."

"I am perfectly capable of looking after myself sir," Sam disagreed.

"_Please Sam,_" they could all hear the begging note in his voice, although it wasn't prominent.

"Ok sir," Sam answered, feeling bad for disagreeing in the first place. "I take it that means your meeting with the President is over," she added, changing the subject.

"_Yeah, I'll tell you about it when I see you ok_," Jack replied, they could all hear the relief in his voice.

"Ok. I'll see you in a bit then sir," Sam said.

"_Ok, just don't leave Gibbs' sight ok, please_," Jack said, the begging note reappearing slightly in his voice.

"Yes sir," Sam said before she hung up. She shook her head and looked each member of the team in the eye before she spoke again, "He's going to be overprotective for the next few days, he always is when something happens, to any member of the team and especially when it involves Ba'al."

They all nodded and went back to their work. "Am I ok to stay here Gibbs? I never really asked you before I agreed," Sam said, speaking now to Gibbs.

Gibbs nodded, "Of course. Pull up a chair and find something to amuse yourself."

Sam smiled and dragged the chair from the empty desk beside McGee to the free space just to the side of Gibbs' desk before she sat and pulled her palm top from the day before out of her jacket pocket and like yesterday tapped away at it, although today she didn't take her eyes off it once.

Ziva looked up and caught Tony's eye. She raised a delicate eyebrow and he shrugged in response, none of this really made all that much sense to him, he couldn't understand who Jack was and how it was he managed to talk to the President in the way he had, let alone what the hell was going on between Sam and Jack.

Gibbs kept giving Sam sideways looks every time he saw her wince slightly as her bandages pulled, but he didn't say anything, he knew that she was a lot tougher than she looked.

McGee concentrated on his own computer, filling his outstanding paperwork as well as e-mailing Abby, who was bored and looking for someone to talk to.

Ziva and Tony were also working but every so often Tony would look up and watch Ziva for a few seconds before turning back to his work and carrying on. Ziva was also sneaking glances at him every so often but she was being more subtle about it than Tony, not stopping working just glancing up through her eye lashes.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs," Abby called as she tottered towards them.

"Whoa there Abby," Gibbs said, "Where's the fire?"

"I was bored," Abby complained, "Major Mass Spec and the rest of the troops are working away and I've got nothing to do."

Gibbs shook his head but smiled and said, "So why did you come up here?"

"I came to see Sam," Abby said smiling down at Sam, who had finally looked up, "I didn't get to see her yesterday."

Sam stood and let Abby wrap her arms around her tightly and she returned the hug just as tightly, which was quite an achievement was given she could only use one arm. "Hey Abby," she said to the goth, "Long time no see."

Abby pulled back and dropped her arms. She looked at the one that Sam had kept by her side for the hug and asked, "What happened this time? It feels like every time I see you there is something wrong with you."

"Come on Abby, aren't you exaggerating just a little?" Sam complained.

Abby shook her head, "First time I meet you you were suffering from major sun burn."

"That's not as bad as you made it sound Abs," Gibbs pointed out.

"What about the broken arm, dislocated collar bone, sprained ankle, broken foot," Abby blabbered on.

"Ok Abs," Sam said with a smile, "You can stop now, I get the picture. And it wasn't me with the broken foot that was the General."

"What was the General?" came Jack's voice.

"Sir," Sam greeted him with a smile.

"Hey Carter," Jack said, moving closer, "How you doing?"

Sam rolled her eyes, "I told you I was ok."

Jack rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow even as Abby ran up and gave him a hug. "Hey Abs," Jack said, "It's good to see you too."

Abby let go and moved back.

"How was your meeting General?" Tony asked, curious about what had actually been said after Jack's little stunt the evening before.

Jack didn't say anything, just handed Sam a manila envelope. She frowned before she lifted the flap and pulled out the paper inside. Everyone could see that it was White House stationary from what was at the top of the page but other than that no one had any idea what it was about as the writing was too small for them to read.

Sam however scanned the page briefly before she gave Jack an incredulous look and read it again, slower this time and taking in every word what had been typed on the paper, one by one, her face not changing as what it said sunk in.

She finished and then looked back at Jack, an indescribable look on her face. Jack took the paper back from her and then said, "I have something for you too."

Sam frowned as Jack handed her an envelope. "I saw George," Jack explained, "And he told me to make sure you got this as soon as you had read what you just read."

Sam still looked confused but she opened the envelope and pulled out two pieces of paper. She frowned at the paper; she recognised the handwriting on both pieces of paper. She sat, a little shocked and read the first page.

_Sam,_

_Your father asked me to make sure this got to you should the need arrive, he wrote it on his death bed in the SGC and wanted you to have it when the time was right._

_George_


	13. Chapter 13

**So this is the second the last chapter and hopefully the epilogue will be up soon, but I make no promises as my first two exams are in just over two hours.**

**Anyway, thank you all for reading and reviewing. **

Sam looked up again and at Jack. "Have you read either of them?" she questioned.

He shook his head, "The envelope was addressed to you Carter, none of my business."

Sam nodded and looked at the second piece of paper, which had her name written on the front in her father's hand writing.

_Hey kiddo,_

_I know if you're reading this that George has kept his promise._

_I know I told you that you could still be happy and I believe that you can, you just need the right circumstances to let it happen, and as soon as those circumstances are met George is to pass this on._

_I am of course talking about you and Jack, anyone can see you are crazy about each other and it took me a little bit of time but when I saw you working together time after time, saving each other in more ways than one, I knew that he was good for you and you were good for him. _

_Part of me is proud that you have managed to work so long together without breaking the frat regs, well when you are in full control of your bodies anyway I've heard all the stories and even more of the rumours, but the other part of me is sad that my brilliant daughter cannot be with the man she clearly loves because of some rule._

_I know that you're with Pete, and that you're going to get married, but neither Sel'mac nor I like the guy, he isn't good enough for you, not by a long way. I know that is what a father always says but I truly believe that. I also believe that if anyone is good enough for my Sammie it is Jack O'Neill, even if he did make it his mission in life to annoy me at any and every opportunity._

_I will be the first to admit that when you turned down the offer of NASA I was disappointed but seeing what you already did and what you have achieved I can honestly say there is not a prouder man in all the galaxies or planes of existence. You and SG1 have done so much and I am so proud of being able to call you my daughter and the rest of your team my friends and I would have been proud to call Jack my son._

_I would tell you all this in person but I know that it will only confuse matters so I'll write it here. Whatever your choice Sammie you have my blessing to do as you will and love who you want._

_Dad_

Sam looked up once more and saw that everyone was watching her.

"Are you ok Sam?" Abby asked in a worried tone.

Sam looked at her and smiled. "I don't ever think I've been better," she replied honestly.

"So why are you crying?" Abby inquired.

Sam touched her cheeks and when her fingers came away wet she said, "I hadn't realised I was."

"What does it say?" Jack asked gently.

Instead of answering straight away Sam looked him up and down. When they had first meet he had had brown hair but now it had turned completely silver, and if she was being honest with herself she much preferred it the way it as now. He had also gained a little weight in the past couple of years riding a desk but he had been in the field too long to let it get out of hand. Once she had finished her scrutiny she gave Jack a smile and said, "It's from Dad; he wrote it just before he died, I'm guessing on his death bed one of the few times I was called away, and gave Hammond instructions to give it to me should the time come when I would need it."

Jack reached over and brushed his thumbs lightly across her face, wiping away the tears. "And the crying?" Jack asked, "Bad news?"

Sam shook her head, "No, he gave me his blessing," she caught his eye and held it as she continued to say, "To do as I will and love who I want."

Jack's face broke into a smile and Sam's soon followed, together lighting up the room.

"Ok," Tony interjected, "Can someone please explain what the hell is going on."

Jack and Sam looked away from each other and at Tony but before they could answer Sam's phone rang. "Carter," she answered before rolling her eyes, "I'm fine Daniel, jeez you people worry too much."

Sam smiled at Jack before she continued, "No, he's alive, didn't get his head bitten off." She saw Jack roll his eyes and said, "Ok, maybe he did get chewed out a little."

Jack rolled his eyes and wordless held out his hand for the phone. Sam smiled and placed it in his hand. Jack put it to his ear. "Can I help you Space Monkey?" he asked. He listened for a moment, "She's fine and no I'm not about to be put in front of a shooting squad, thanks for the vote of confidence."

He listened again before answering, "Well hopefully, if everything works out she'll be staying in DC for a while so no need for you to worry about her over exerting herself after her ordeal."

Sam glared at him and he smirked before turning his back to her. After a minute Sam reached over his shoulder and pulled the phone from his hand, "Thank you Daniel," she said, "Now if you'll excuse us," she hung up the phone and pushed it into her pocket once more.

"That man," she said, "Has timing that rivals anyone I have ever met."

Jack smiled at her before they both looked at Tony, who had moved from behind his desk over to Ziva's as they had spoken on the phone, as had McGee and Abby while Gibbs had remained behind his desk, watching the proceedings with just the barest hints of an understanding smirk on his face.

Jack opened his mouth to speak but then his phone began to ring. "For the love of all things holy," he said, pulling it out of his pocket. "What," he snapped into the receiver. "Not my problem anymore," he said before hanging up.

"What if that was important?" Sam questioned.

"It was something about a new set of paperwork that needed done but it has nothing to do with me anymore," Jack said, "So why would I put myself through that?"

Sam smiled at him and then looked at the pieces of paper both she and Jack were holding. She had the letters from her dad and Hammond while Jack was holding the manila envelope.

"So," Jack said, switching his gaze between the two.

"So," Sam parroted.

"Oh come here," Jack said, dropping the paper on Gibbs' desk and opening his arms for Sam.

She smiled and didn't even register that she had dropped her letters as she wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and kissed him soundly on the lips. When she pulled back she rested her forehead against his and they both beamed at each other. Sam felt his arms tighten around her and she pulled back a little and said, "Don't you dare Jack O'Neill, don't you dare."

Jack just smirked and picked her up and spun in a circle before he put her down and gave her another smile, "Oh come on, I've been waiting for eleven years for this day, I fully intend to make the most of it."

"Elven years," Tony mouthed to Ziva, the shock clear on his face. Her eyes widened slightly but that was all the indication of shock that she gave. McGee however wasn't as good at controlling his features and his mouth all but dropped open.

Abby however looked really happy and was about to speak when McGee caught her hand and pulled her away from the still grinning pair shaking his head to tell her to keep quiet while the two had a moment.

Sam smiled and then laughed. "It's been a long time coming," she said eventually.

"That it has," Jack said.

Then they both jumped as Sam's phone rang. She pulled away from Jack and pulled it out, she laughed again when she looked at the caller ID. She showed it to Jack and he too laughed. "You want to answer it or shall I?" Jack asked.

Sam handed it over with a smile and Jack answered, "Space Pirate, you have timing nearly as good as Daniel's."

He listened for a minute before answering, "Yes Vala, she's fine. I'm answering her phone because she gave it to me. Now why don't you go and find Space Monkey and annoy him, we're busy." He hung up and handed Sam back her phone with a smile. Sam took it and laughed before she brushed her lips over Jack's once more.

As the pair became more aware of their surroundings once more they noticed that everyone in the bull pen was watching them, not just Gibbs' team.

"I'm sure you people have work to be doing," Jack said loudly, "Now how about you get on with it while I tell this beautiful woman how much I've loved her for the past eleven years."

Everyone looked away hurriedly, minus Gibbs' team, and went back to their work.

"Really sir," Sam said, "We weren't exactly being subtle."

"Subtle," Jack said, "Went out the window as soon as I became Retired General Jack O'Neill."

Sam laughed while Gibbs said, "So they let you go then."

Jack nodded, "Yes they did, I think the President spent a lot of time thinking it over last night and spoke to a lot of people but I have more than earned it and they knew it, just took them some time to come to terms with losing my dim witted self."

Sam elbowed him in the ribs as he said the last part. "Really sir, sometimes you aren't half full of bull."

"Ah here it comes," Jack joked, "I retire and the claws come out. Took you long enough to call me on it Carter, I've been doing it for years."

Sam rolled her eyes, "Every kid we have ever met has known you are smarter than you look, you never fooled anyone sir."

"D'oh," Jack exclaimed, "And here I was thinking I managed to pull the wool over everyone's eyes." He stopped and then frowned, "Hey, you keep calling me sir, stop it." He sounded like a little kid.

Sam rolled her eyes again, "Elven years is going to be a hard habit to break."

Jack shrugged, "Well we have the rest of our lives to work on it do we not."

Sam laughed before she looked at the NCIS team. "It was lovely to meet you all and it was nice to see you again Leo and Abby."

"Likewise Sam," Gibbs said, bending and picking up the two letters while Abby hugged both Sam and Jack.

"Ziva," Sam said smiling at the woman, "If you have any problems with nightmares or anything to do with the Ba'al incident," she pulled out a card, "Please don't hesitate to call if you need to talk."

Ziva smiled and took the card before she shook Sam's hand. "Thank you," she said, "For what you did."

Sam shrugged and then shook hands with both Tony and McGee as Jack followed along behind her. She got back to Gibbs and gave him a smile. "Do I get a hug Leo?" she teased.

Gibbs rolled his eyes but opened his arms to her. "It was good to see you again Sam," he said, "Even if it was under such crappy circumstances."

Sam smiled, "Well I should be around for a few weeks so we should go out for a meal or something, like old times."

Gibbs smiled and then opened his desk draw and pulled out a bottle of bourbon. As he handed it to her he said, "I never got a chance to thank you for getting the boat out of the basement, I still have no clue how you did it."

Sam took the bottle and smiled before saying, "Well that's a secret but thank you for this."

Abby, McGee, Tony and Ziva all shared a look, they had always wondered how Gibbs had gotten the damn boat out of the basement but it looked like even he didn't know.

Jack however frowned and said, "You didn't."

"I did," Sam replied smiling.

"How?" Jack asked, "How did you get him to agree?"

Sam smiled again, "He owed me a favour after the incident with the ship and then when I explained it all to him he was interested and when he saw it he was happy and excited. They looked incredibly funny when they were happy."

Jack laughed, "Almost as funny as the time we got him drunk or gave him loads of coffee."

Sam laughed and noticed the looks the two odd them were getting and smiled at them all. "I had a hand getting the boat out of the basement; the guy who helped me was very interested in the concept of doing it all by hand."

Jack shook his head and then took Sam's hand before saying, "Well, we better be going. Sam shouldn't be getting too excited since she's not completely healed yet."

Sam scowled at him but didn't disagree, she wanted to leave and be alone with him just as much as he wanted it.

Jack gave them all one last wave before he said, "We'll have to meet up again sometime this week, or the next, celebrate my retirement properly."

Gibbs gave him a small smile, "I look forward to it General."

"Call me General again gunny and the invitation is revoked," Jack said, only half kidding, "From now on it's Jack."

"Sir yes sir," Gibbs joked.

Jack rolled his eyes but didn't say anything before he began to drag Sam towards the lift. Sam however put up a little fight and made him stop. Once she was still again she turned to Gibbs and said, "By the way Leo, rule 12 is a load of crap and you know it." She looked over at where Abby, McGee, Tony and Ziva were all still around Ziva's desk watching, "Sometimes dating a co-worker is the best thing that can happen to you."

Jack beamed and then the two of them continued on their way to the lift. "I know," Gibbs called after them, "Have ever since I met you. Sometimes it goes wrong but other times they end up like you."

"But we were never dating," Sam replied as the doors began to shut.

"That's precisely my point," Gibbs called out just as the doors shut.


	14. Epilogue

**So here is the last chapter. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed this story and I hope you liked it.**

**It wasn't easy to write which is why it has taken so long but I wanted to get some closure for everyone, especially Tony and Ziva**

A few days later Gibbs hung up from the call he had just taken on his mobile and then looked around at his team. They had gotten a case only a few hours after Sam and Jack had left and had finished it that morning, the murderer confessing to Gibbs in interrogation and now they were doing paperwork.

"Oi," he said, to catch their attention. Once they all looked up at him he carried on, "That was retired General O'Neill, he just invited us all around for dinner tonight."

"All of us?" Tony questioned.

Gibbs nodded, "Yes DiNozzo, all of us. Jack is having a little retirement party and wanted all of us there too, as a thank you for helping get Sam back."

"But we didn't really help," McGee pointed out, "They did all the work."

Gibbs shrugged, "When it comes to Sam, just us being there is enough for Jack." He looked between Tony and Ziva and said, "Sam also wanted to know how you pair were doing."

_The parting words of Sam and Gibbs had confused the three younger agents and Abby. Or at least they had until Gibbs had pulled Ziva and Tony aside to speak to them. He had taken them into the lift and then had stopped the lift using the emergency switch. He turned to the two agents and stared at them hard for a moment before speaking. "Sam is right; sometimes rule 12 is a bunch of bull."_

_The two agents gave him a confused looks. In return his lips quirked slightly and then he continued. "Sam and Jack have been fighting their feelings for eleven years and it put a strain on their friendship and on their team. Not a massively obvious one but it was there. They always had to step carefully around each and their feelings." He stopped and saw that the two agents were still looking lost. "Look," he said, "Even a blind man can see how you two feel about each other. I think the only people who don't realise that you two have feelings for each other are you two." Their mouths opened in shock as he spoke. He smiled, "Rule 12 no longer applies, it's gone, kaput. Do whatever you feel is right."_

_He flipped the switch again and the lift stared back up. He got off and left the two of them looking at each other in shock. "We need to talk," Tony said, leading the way out of the lift and towards the interrogation rooms._

_"We do," Ziva agreed._

_They found an empty observation room and went in, knowing that they would have some privacy to talk, at least until someone needed the room anyway. "So," Tony said._

_"So," Ziva retorted._

_They were silent for a moment before Tony said, "Was Gibbs right?"_

_"Right?" Ziva asked._

_Tony looked her up and down, "Do you really have feelings for me?"_

_Ziva tried to hold his gaze but soon looked away. "Ziva," Tony said gently, reaching out and gently bringing her face back towards him._

_Ziva looked down, "I do Tony but I don't want to." She was still refusing to look him in the eye._

_"Why?" Tony asked, managing to keep the hurt out of his voice but not completely off of his face._

_"Because I'm a killer Tony, anyone I ever have feelings for dies," Ziva said, finally looking back at him._

_At her words Tony cupped her face in both of his hand. "So long as you'll have me Ziva David," he said in a soft voice that was brimming with honesty, "I will always be here."_

_Ziva studied his eyes and seeing the truth there she smiled shyly. Tony smiled back. Ziva's eyes darted from his eyes to his lips and then back up again quickly but Tony didn't miss it. Ziva leant slightly closer and did it again. Tony's smile widened and then he closed the remaining gap between them, which was now only a few centimetres, and kissed her lightly on the lips. He began to pull away but Ziva followed him, continuing the kiss. Her tongue snaked out and poked at the seam of his lips. He let her enter and then their tongues fought as the kiss deepened. _

_Somehow, he wasn't aware of them moving, Tony felt as his back hit the window. His hands went from where they were still cradling her face and to around her waist while he snaked tighter around his neck and pulled herself even tighter to her. _

_Ziva was the first to pull away and when she did she was breathing heavily but she smiling from ear to ear. Tony's smile was even bigger as he gently kissed her forehead before he brought his hand up from her waist and brushed her hair behind her ear._

_"Well I guess that's this," Ziva whispered._

_"That's that," Tony corrected with a smile before he nodded and said, "And yes, we did what we felt was right, just like Gibbs said."_

_"And it felt very right, at least for me," Ziva replied._

_Tony pulled away completely but took hold of her hand and said, "And to me Ziva, and to me."_

_The two shared a smile before they headed out of the observation room_ _and back towards the bull pen. Once there they let go of each other's hand and went to their respective desks, but not before Gibbs saw and gave them a nod and a smile._

Later that evening they all arrived at the address that Gibbs had given them together, even though they had all driven separately, well Ziva and Tony had come together as had Abby and McGee. They all met on the sidewalk and then headed up the path to the house together.

They all, except Gibbs who had been there before, took the chance to look at the house. It wasn't massive but it wasn't small either and it looked comfortable.

They reached the door and Gibbs quickly rang the doorbell. They all heard movement from within as someone came to the door but then heard Sam saying, in a loud voice, "Don't you dare open that door Jack. Go and get cleaned up now before everyone else gets here."

They all shared a look as the person behind the door, they were guessing Jack, muttered something under his breath before they heard him walk away. They waited a few seconds and then heard as Sam came through the house and opened the door for them. She smiled when she saw who was there and let them all in.

"Sorry about that," Sam said, "Thanks for coming."

They all smiled while Tony and McGee handed over a bottle of wine each and Ziva and Abby handed over some pastries each had gotten on their way here. Sam smiled at them and then gestured them through into the house. She followed behind them and peeled off into the kitchen for a moment to put down the wine and pastries before she reappeared where they had all congregated in the lounge.

"How come Jack couldn't open the door?" Gibbs asked, much to approval of everyone else in the room who had been wondering the same thing.

"What happened to me," Jack said, coming into the room, "Is that I said Sam could stay with me while she was in DC."

Sam rolled her eyes, "Just cause I'm a better shot than you."

Jack huffed and then smiled at the confused looks on the faces around them, "I started a food fight and Sam ended it very quickly and effectively."

Sam just shrugged, "What can I say, you got old sir, you were easy to hit."

Jack huffed but couldn't manage to look upset for more than a few seconds before he smiled and said, "Well I did get you good though Carter, you've got stuff in your hair."

No one else had noticed before but as Sam raised her hand to get whatever was there they all noticed that there was indeed something in Sam's hair. She pulled it out and frowned, "Really Jack, fruit loops?"

Jack smiled before he said, "They were on the side, how could I resist."

Sam shook her head again before addressing the room. "Meet Retired General O'Neill, he looks about a million but has the mental age of about seven."

Jack bowed, "Nice to meet you all." He then frowned at Sam, "I do not look a million."

"Of course not," Sam said in a patronising voice, "But the flour you missed is doing a good job of highlighting the fact that you're not as young as you used to be."

"You're no spring chicken yourself," Jack grumbled as he headed back upstairs to get the rest of the flour off his face.

Sam just laughed and turned to the NCIS team. She studied how close Tony and Ziva were standing and then smirked at Gibbs, "Told you so Leo."

Gibbs rolled his eyes but didn't disagree.

"Why do you call him Leo?" Tony asked, "He hates being called anything but Gibbs."

Sam shrugged, "When we first met I called him Gibbs but then I called him Leo as a joke and it sort of stuck and I've called him that ever since, and since he's never complained I don't see any problem with it."

Tony nodded while Ziva asked, "Where are everyone else? The rest of your team I mean?"

Sam looked at her watch quickly before answering, "They should be on their way."

As she finished speaking Jack came back in and asked sarcastically, "Better?"

Sam nodded and asked, "Do you know when Daniel and the others are getting here?"

Jack shook his head but then his phone rang and he said, "Why don't you ask him yourself Carter."

Sam took the offered phone and put it to her ear, "Hey Daniel." She gestured to Jack and then to Gibbs and his team and Jack ushered them to sit down. "There's the observatory in that big tree at the bottom of the garden, that should be big enough," Sam said into the phone then after a minute she said, "Ok Daniel, we'll see you in a minute."

She hung up and threw Jack's phone back to him, "They're nearly here."

The team were confused by what had just happened but they had come to expect that from these people, especially after how they had healed Sam's stab wound and other injuries. They didn't have to wait long until they heard the back door open and then the group from the day before all entered the room. "Look who we found on our way over," Daniel said moving to the side.

"Hey," Cassie said when Sam and Jack could see her.

Jack and Sam both beamed before Sam moved forward and pulled her into a hug, Jack soon joining them and wrapping his arms around the two of them. When they all pulled back Cassie beamed at them and said, "Mom was right, pity it just took you so long to do anything about it."

Sam smiled at her then introduced her to the room. "Cassie meet Agent's Gibbs, Ziva David, Tim McGee and Tony DiNozzo and Abby Sciuto." Cassie smiled at all of them. "This is Cassie," Sam said.

Cassie turned to look at Jack and said, "Congratulations Uncle Jack, if anyone deserves to retire it's you." Jack smiled at her and then Teal'c handed her a box and she handed it Jack. He opened it and then placed it on the table and pulled Cassie into another massive hug, lifting her feet off the floor. When he put her back on her feet she laughed at him.

Everyone took a look at what was in the box. It was a cake, a 3D wooden cabin complete with a pond and had the words Congratulations Sam and Jack written on the roof of the cabin and Happy Retirement iced onto the pond.

They all had a brilliant night, laughing and joking around with each other, although a lot of the jokes went over the NCIS team's heads. All in all it was a brilliant night and Jack and Sam made the most of their new found freedom as did Tony and Ziva, much to the amusement of everyone else present.


End file.
